


Right Now Now

by EighthHeroine



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: 2D is trying his very best, Angst and Romance, Developing Friendships, Eventual Romance, Family Dynamics, Friendship, Gen, I'm awful at summaries, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Kissing, M/M, Past Abuse, Rating could probably pass for Teen I changed it to M in case, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Sad Stuart "2D" Pot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:33:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24372088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EighthHeroine/pseuds/EighthHeroine
Summary: 2D is moving up in the world. His eyes are healing, his head hurts less and he's remembering more little by little. So why does he feel so broken up inside?
Relationships: Ace Copular & Stuart "2D" Pot, Ace Copular/Stuart "2D" Pot, Murdoc Niccals & Stuart "2D" Pot, Russel Hobbs & Murdoc Niccals & Noodle & Stuart "2D" Pot
Comments: 26
Kudos: 126





	1. Souk Eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gorillaz lore is complicated so I apologize if I got anything wrong.

It was a dream he had only moments ago. Murdoc and him were sitting by the keyboard in Kong Studio, just the two of them. Murdoc was smoking and messing around with some notes on a guitar. He wasn't the best at acoustic guitar, not like Noodle but a clumsy melody had inspired 2D to play his own group of notes in response.

Murdoc had glanced up then a smile tugging at his lips. "Wait, play that again D."

2D does as he's asked and Murdoc makes one of his funny approving sounds, something between a groan and an appreciative hum.

"Nice one 2D! That's good. That's good." Murdoc leans forward to write on some music sheets. 2D watches with intrigue as he scribbles down a few words and notes.

2D looks around for a moment taking in the familiar walls of Kong Studio. It's as if he's gone back in time. Was that possible? Maybe he'd fallen into some kind of time tunnel or something?

Words tumble out of his mouth before he can stop them.

"I miss Kong."

Murdoc stills beside him and gives him a funny look. "What?" 2D doesn't elaborate. Murdoc shakes his head, smoke rising from the cigar in his mouth. 

"What are you on about, faceache?"

2D's eyesight is blurry with tears and his fingers begin to fidget so he plays the melody on the keyboard again. 

He sniffles. "I miss this. I miss when we just made music."

He's crying now as the song flows from his fingers. He wants to sing. But the words won't come out like his throat isn't really there, like he's not really there. It's funny, even his cheeks don't feel wet but he knows he's crying.

He expects Murdoc to yell at him. Like on Plastic Beach, to scream at him to sing. Sometimes 2D would follow his orders after the back and forth yelling. Other times he'd shut down, cover his face and cry. Murdoc would change his attitude then. 

Sympathetic and kind he'd say softly to 2D, "Come, come, 2D. If you sing for me you can go back to your room. I promise."

So 2D would sing through the tears, ignoring aches in his head, in his eyes, in his heart.

The Murdoc with him now doesn't yell at him though instead he frowns and looks almost… sad. It's obvious he's not sure what to do or say. 2D continues playing, the notes are easier than speaking anyway. He just wishes his voice wasn't stuck so he could sing. He's got some nice lyrics in his head that Murdoc might like.

Eventually 2D stops and he's left in silence as tears drop onto his hands. Murdoc shifts and leans the guitar against the keyboard. "You hear about that new bar not too far from here? Let's head over there, I need a drink."

2D isn't playing anymore but the notes repeat in his head. He sniffles again.

"Okay, Murdoc."

* * *

He ignores the feeling of water under his fingers as he plays another string of notes that doesn't sound quite like it should. His head hurts. Which isn't unusual but it makes it hard for him to think. He ignores another drop of water that hits the keyboard. 

A A D G D G D A A D G D...

"No… No..."

He groans and clutches his blue hair, pulling on it. A voice that sounds suspiciously like Murdoc's says in his head, _"You bloody idiot! Can't even remember a simple string of notes!"_

If he were here he'd push 2D aside and try to play it himself. But he's not. It's just 2D in the control room of Studio 13. Noodle is asleep. Russel is asleep. And he should be asleep. Except he's awake cause he'd dreamed up a stupid song and couldn't remember it now.

He sniffles and pressing his fingers to the keys.

A A D G D G A A D G D A A… G G D...

He lets out a sob. He can't help it. He's getting the keyboard all wet and his fingers feel slick against the keys. 

A A D G D G A A D G D A A… what was it?

"Um…"

2D jumps and before his brain can catch up to the world he thinks Murdoc is there. He's going to hit him, isn't he? He whimpers and flinches, covering his face with his hands and squeezing his eyes shut.

A panicked voice says, "Hey jeez 2D sorry! I didn't mean to scare you..."

The voice is entirely different from Murdoc's and he hates that he's both relieved and devastated at the same time once he realizes it's not the band's original bassist. He moves his hands away from his face and sees a very groggy looking Ace watching him in the doorway with concern. Ace's room was directly above the control room. In his haste to remember the song 2D had forgot.

He quickly covers his face again and attempts to wipe the tears away. Ace had been nice so far and 2D liked him. His accent was funny and he had a good sense of humor. He doesn't want Ace to think of him like Murdoc does, to think he's a whiny useless idiot. 

"Ace! I uh…" This is awkward. It's terrible. He's supposed to be the lead singer of their band, the face of Gorillaz. Pretty with a lovely voice as Murdoc would say. But instead he'd been crying at a keyboard in front of their new bassist. 

Ace looks conflicted. Eventually he puts his hands in his pockets and offers, "I heard the song you're working on. Sounds good."

2D blinks a couple times and sniffs away threatening tears. "Oh uh thanks... I can't get it right though."

Ace appears to be thinking over something. He's got bed hair, a loose pajama shirt and pants on, and his sunglasses are on slightly crooked. That's interesting. Did he keep his sunglasses on while he slept?

Ace walks towards him groggily and picks up the bass guitar he'd dropped in the spot he'd claimed as his own. He eyes the bottle of beer on the ground beside it like he's thinking of drinking it but shakes his head and seats himself on a bench beside 2D instead. 

"As great as your music is it ain't exactly fun waking up to it in the middle of the night. Noodle mentioned you can't stop yourself once you get going, so guess I'll have to help you until you're done."

Ace yawns and gets comfortable while 2D thinks over what he said. He feels bad. It wasn't Ace's fault 2D had a depressing dream about Murdoc and thought of a pretty song that he couldn't remember now. It wasn't his fault he was having a breakdown in the middle of the night. It wasn't his fault Murdoc was in jail and he had to deal with 2D like this.

"I'm sorry."

Ace raises an eyebrow. "For what? I'm not that mad at you. I wake up in the middle of the night half the time cause Snake calls me anyway. Says he forgets about timezones but I know he's doing it on purpose."

2D's brow furrows and before he thinks better of it he asks, "How does a snake call you? They have no arms."

Ace gauges his expression for a moment trying to figure out if he's serious. Eventually he laughs. He laughs and laughs as if 2D's just told the funniest joke in the world.

"Oh man! Wait until I tell Snake about this!"

2D tilts his head, confused. It was a reasonable question, he thought. Ace just smiles wider at his behaviour. "Snake's a fellow actor. He's not actually a snake 2D, it's the nickname he goes by cause he looks like a snake. Acts like one too actually."

"Oh. Right." Except he doesn't really get it. How does someone look like a snake? Does he have no arms or legs then? Maybe if 2D could remember the show Ace was famous for he'd get it. Noodle said she used to watch it all the time. Except his memory wasn't too great with stuff like that. Russ said it was probably cause of head trauma.

"Anywho," Ace interrupts his thoughts, "Let me know what I can do to help ya. Since I'm wide awake now and all."

2D fidgets nervously. It was always Murdoc that handled collaborating and all that. And so far Ace had mostly interacted with Noodle during the album's early writing process. 2D was still getting used to guiding the band himself.

"Oh um yeah." He stares at the keys that are a little wet and tries to think. Had he really been crying moments ago?

Ace fiddles with his bass whilst 2D thinks. Murdoc had a tendency to rush him when he wanted him to play something. But now no one was telling him to play anything, he was just here in front of a keyboard. He was in control. He's both terrified and excited at the prospect.

"Um... well how about I play what I have so far, and you can tell me what you think it's missing."

Ace looks a little surprised but agrees.

"Oh uh sure."

2D wills himself to recall the string of notes. It's somewhere in there he can feel it. His fingers move across the keys slowly on their own accord. The same melody from before.

A A D G D G A A D G D A A…

He falters. Murdoc isn't with him, no one's watching him expectantly, it's just Ace who only looks curious. 

"It's nice so far." Ace comments. "Wistful."

_Wistful…_

That was it, wasn't it? That was the feeling he'd had in the dream looking around Kong in the past. 2D hums in acknowledgment then starts over again. 

A A D G D G A A D G D G G# G G D F D F E E D F G D A

He repeats it a couple times, anxiety washing away. He remembered now. That's how it went.

Eventually 2D slows and stops. Ace is grinning beside him. "That's real good. Catchy too. How'd you come up with it anyway?"

2D smiles big enough that it exposes the gap in his teeth.

"I played it in a dream but forgot it. That's why I came down here so I could try and remember before it was gone."

"You compose music in your dreams?"

"Only sometimes. It's like uh… there's a place when you sleep that keeps all sorts of extra things. And sometimes I hear something from the telly or a tune on the radio that gets muddled up in my head and makes a song that I hear in my sleep. That's how all that jumbled up noise gets out, I think."

Ace laughs a little. "You really are the real deal, huh? Not just a pretty face but a musical genius too."

2D… wants to cry. He wants to cry so so bad. Wants to start bawling. Murdoc used to praise him quite often when he first formed the band. He still did sometimes, even after Plastic Beach, but it was… rare.

"Um yeah. I um I'm good at it. At keyboard and singing."

Ace must think he's said something wrong cause his smile falls away and he quickly adds, "I mean all of you guys are musical geniuses, of course! Noodle and Russel too."

2D nods. Murdoc was gone and 2D had asked Russel about the drumming he did against the dashboard when they were on lengthy trips in the car. He thought it'd make a nice song.

With some prodding Russel had agreed. He'd said: "Alright I'll work out the beat, you write the lyrics D. And we can compose from there." 

2D was thinking of calling the song something like _Wizardz_ cause drumsticks always reminded 2D of wands.

Noodle had found an old demo on 2D's iPad she liked. Her smile was wide with excited eyes like she was only ten again when she'd told him, "This is really good 2D! We could make it into an instrumental track!" 

They were still in the early phases of songwriting with only _Idaho_ nearly completed, based on a previous song 2D had written. And so 2D had also proposed a couple other song ideas. Like writing a song about Noodle's cat Katsu (Russel didn't seem keen on that though) or maybe a song inspired by amusement parks, casinos, cities, lost in it all. But so far Ace had only really been along to follow their direction. 2D realizes now they might've gotten a little carried away (or maybe it was just him that got carried away). He hadn't asked for Ace's opinion on much of anything so far.

He should fix that. "You wanna try adding the bass line?"

Ace makes a face and then looks away to pick at a pink, purple and blue sticker on his guitar that 2D thinks he recognizes as meaning something but it doesn't come to him.

"Nah I'm not much of a music maker. I just play the tunes. If you give me a couple chords I can play them for ya."

2D frowns and wonders if Ace is afraid. He thinks of Murdoc yelling at him when he doesn't like what 2D's playing.

"It's okay. I won't get mad if it doesn't sound perfect. It's good to mess around."

Ace waits for 2D to give up or say more but he doesn't, simply watching Ace with interested white eyes. Murdoc had always said 2D looked great with black eyes. He wonders what Ace would prefer. He hopes it's white. He doesn't particularly like getting whacked over the head constantly to keep them black.

Ace gives in eventually. "Alright… I'll try."

2D feels suddenly giddy, excited to hear what he comes up with. Slowly he begins the keyboard melody again. He plays the string of notes in repetition two times before Ace comes in. It sounds off at first but 2D doesn't mind. He's not going to yell at him like Murdoc. It takes another three repetitions before Ace figures out when to change chords to back the tune and what notes mingle well.

It sounds… sweet and warm. Like scones and beaches. He thinks of Murdoc ranting about how awful the music on the radio was while 2D eats the scones they'd brought along in the passenger's seat, twilight skies and the LA cityscape outside the window.

He finds his voice unlike the dream. First he's humming then he sings trying to find a melody that flows with it. Words form in his head next and he halts his playing abruptly, struck with inspiration. Ace looks bewildered and stops playing as well. 2D pulls out some music sheets and his journal scribbling down notes and words with new found enthusiasm. The words are sad, they're lonely and wistful, nostalgic. His eyes tear up even thinking about singing them but he doesn't cry this time.

Ace must notice the sheen of his eyes cause he sounds hesitant when he asks, "Er… was that good?"

2D nods excitedly. "It was perfect, Ace!"

"R-really?" If 2D wasn't so engrossed in writing everything down he might have noticed the slight pink tinge to Ace's cheeks.

"I'm um glad I could help then."

2D can hear it coming together now. The lyrics and the composition. It'll need some more work with Russel and Noodle's help but it's a great start. 

"While, if you don't need me for anything else guess I'll leave you to it."

Ace moves to get up. 2D doesn't hear what he says too lost in his own world but he does notice the movement. He's hungry.

"Wait. Do you want some scones?"

Ace turns to look at him. "What?"

2D writes down one last line. It's enough that he won't forget the melody or the rest of the lyrics and stands up.

"We have scones in the kitchen. I'm hungry so I'm gonna eat some for breakfast. You wanna join me?"

Slowly an amused smile spreads across Ace's face and he glances at the clock on the wall. 

"Breakfast at 4 in the morning, huh?" 

2D blinks. Huh? Was that really the time? He could've sworn it would've been later than that by now. It felt like he'd been at the keyboard for hours.

Ace shrugs unaware of 2D's musings.

"Sure, why not? I'm not that interested in scones though. You got something more… American?"

2D has to think about that for a moment as he puts the journal and music sheets back in their place. 

"Uhh… Noodle taught me how to make an Americano."

Ace laughs in amusement. "That's not exactly what I meant, scatterbrain. Still, I could use some coffee right now."

2D smiles feeling pleased with himself and follows Ace out of the room and to the kitchen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You ever read your writing at night and you're like "wow this is crap!" but when you read it again in the morning you think "oh okay maybe this ain't so bad." Because I do it all the time and it's weird. I guess it makes sense, I think we tend to be harder on ourselves after dealing with stuff all day.


	2. Humility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2D's feelings towards Murdoc are really conflicted in this fic, it's definitely not intended to be 2doc though. Murdoc is important to him but he also hates him for what he's put him through. Just wanted to make sure that's clear.

2D throws his roller skates on the ground with enough force that they bounce and skid to a stop on the asphalt a few feet away. Still fuming, he crosses his arms and drops down to sit on the curb glaring at the now discarded skates.

What the hell was Russel's problem? Everything was going fine, hell amazing! And then the tosser had to trip him! He bites on one of his nails and chews, no one's here to yell at him for it anyway. Was he not allowed to be happy? They'd already managed to finish a fair amount of the album and get the support to film a music video thanks to all the work 2D had done. Russel was just petty and jealous. Why was he letting him lead on _Sorcererz_ anyway? Obviously he didn't appreciate it.

"Hey! What's got you so pouty, scatterbrain?"

Oh great. 2D glares at Ace who looks far too smug and cocky for 2D's liking right now.

"None of your business!"

Ace's grin falters only for a brief moment then he's snickering again. "Jeez, I was just asking a question. It looked like you were having a blast an hour ago. Someone steal your lunch money or something?"

2D might've laughed at that if he wasn't so upset. Instead he narrows his now black eyes and spits, "Russel's a right tosser! He ruins everything!"

Ace looks surprised. Some of 2D's anger dissipates in response.

"Huh? Is this cause he tripped you?"

The way Ace says it… it's as if he's talking to a child. 2D bristles and looks away. Ace probably thinks he's a whiny brat now. Why does he care what he thinks again?

Ace continues, "You know you were being an ass the other day. Russ was probably just getting back at you for it."

What the hell?

"I'm not the one being an ass! Everyone else is!"

Ace sends him a playful smirk that just infuriates 2D further. "Wow, you are thick. You did notice the interviewer yesterday wasn't directing every question at you, right?"

2D blinks once. Then again. What did that have to do with anything?

Ace is watching him expectantly like he's supposed to figure it out. But 2D doesn't. Finally Ace sighs and rolls his eyes behind his sunglasses.

"Noodle was trying to answer some of the questions too but you kept talking over her. If you weren't so caught up in acting all high and mighty you might've noticed Russ was pissed at you the whole time."

He hadn't noticed. He was too busy answering the questions. It was how Murdoc always was, he was the leader so he guided the interviews. 2D was the leader now so wasn't that what he was supposed to do?

"Murdoc usually answered most of the questions during interviews."

Ace looks exasperated now. "Well the last time I checked you're not Murdoc, are you?"

What did that mean? Was that- was that why Russ and Noodle had avoided him for most of the day. It was his album, not theirs! Murdoc had hardly let him do much of anything composing Plastic Beach and Humanz. He just wanted something for himself.

"It's my album! My vision! Not any of yours!"

Ace doesn't smirk or look exasperated or even annoyed. He frowns. He looks unhappy.

"Heh. Well, it’s nice to know you appreciate our help."

His voice is laced with sarcasm, with venom. The words bring 2D back to another time. He was on that god awful beach again. Murdoc was yelling at him, spitting in his face.

"What the hell are you doing, faceache! You're singing it all wrong!"

2D had frowned and crossed his arms. He had been in the mood to defend himself that day and he’d said back.

"It's great to know you appreciate the help Muds!"

He thinks of Murdoc only months ago yelling at him to try a different chord, sing a higher note, "sound like you mean it 2D!" For a terrible brief moment he imagines himself doing the same to Russ and Noodle. To Ace who was only their replacement bassist and shouldn't be the one dealing with 2D right now. His eyes hurt, his head hurts. He misses Murdoc. He wouldn't let 2D act like this, wouldn't let him be a complete ass. His throat tightens and his eyes water. His vision's already blurry now that his eyes are filled with blood again, the water doesn't help.

His voice is shaky when he says, "I'm sorry."

Ace is still there beside him. He's looking toward the beach now where a group of teenage boys are attempting to win over some girls lying on beach towels and failing miserably.

Ace shrugs. "What are you apologizing to me for? You should talk to Russ and Noodle."

2D doesn't register what he says, he's spiraling now. He looks down at his shaking hands, "I'm awful... A wanker." He grips his hair and pulls, "A complete idiot!"

He hears Ace shift but avoids looking at him, hiding his face between his knees and caving in on himself. Not far away he hears a woman laugh and a man yelling for his son to be careful. He feels something touch his back. It's just a pat but he flinches away. Ace's hand lingers where he had touched him moments before.

He doesn't try to touch him again instead he awkwardly puts his hand in his pocket and says, "Look 2D. Everybody does shitty things sometimes. I popped some guys basketball today for no real reason and I've done a crapton of more terrible things in the past. But I'm not crying about it, am I? Just go apologize to Noodle and stop acting like an asshole. Russ will forgive you."

He swipes at his eyes with the back of his right hand. It takes a moment for Ace's words to make sense to him but when they do it makes him laugh. Popping a basketball wasn't that big of a deal really. They could just buy a new one, couldn't they? Maybe it's the principle.

He gets the feeling Ace is looking at him funny but he doesn't look up to check.

"Now you're laughing?"

He laughs again. What a bloody mess. "They can just buy another basketball." He says matter of fact like.

Ace is looking at him funny. "You're really weird. You know that?"

2D ignores the last comment. He gets to his feet.

"Can you help me find Russ and Noodle?"

Ace's usual playful smirk returns to his face. "You can't just go by yourself?"

The singer draws in on himself. "I can't uh see real well now."

2D thinks he sees some sympathy in Ace's expression but it's hard to tell when his eyes are hidden behind his glasses.

"Sure thing, boss. You gonna just walk around in your socks though?"

He glances down at his feet and wiggles his toes. "I don't got any other shoes. I'm not good at skating anymore either."

Ace sighs and wraps a hand around his left arm to help guide him. 2D can see well enough he doesn't need the extra support but it’s nice to know Ace doesn’t dislike him enough after everything not to tug him along. He won't complain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I started writing this because I think Ace is a funny guy and I love 2D and the Now Now (seriously I'm so proud of 2D he seems so much happier in Desole). I really wish we had gotten more interactions between Gorillaz with Ace but I understand it's not Damon and Jamie's fault. Anyway I just wanted to write a few interactions between 2D and Ace specifically but as I was writing it I started shipping them lol.


	3. Tranz

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning there's a description of vomit in this chapter.

2D discovers that he quite likes driving. Now that his eyes were healed again he'd given it a try one day (much to Russ's disapproval) and found he was pretty good at it. He remembers now the familiar feeling of the steering wheel under his hands and spending days driving his gang of friends from high school around, smoking and causing general mischief.

They'd always have 2D drive. "You're real good at it Stu." One of them had said to him once but he can't remember which one of them it was.

He's driving them to the film studio and it's probably not too smart because he'd hardly gotten any sleep last night but Noodle had been happy to relinquish the steering wheel to him. She's sitting in the backseat now talking excitedly to Ace about the show he used to star in.

Russ is in a good mood. He's got some drumsticks and he's drumming the beat of _Tranz_ against the dashboard with a pleasant smile on his face. Without Murdoc around and with 2D acting like less of an ass (he was trying anyway, he still had a tendency to be a bit of an attention seeker during interviews), he swore he had never seen Russ smile so much.

A car to their right turns on its left blinker and 2D lets them over. He yawns and brings a hand up to rub at his right eye. He feels pretty shit, mostly because he was tired. He had an awful dream about Murdoc last night. He was in prison and one of the inmates had stabbed him repeatedly and left the bassist to bleed to death on the floor. 2D had woken up and spent the rest of the night crying about it. He had gotten a fair bit of work done finishing up the composition for _Fire Flies_ at least. Someone honks and 2D watches with some interest when a car in the left lane doesn't stop in time and bumps into the back fender of another car.

Russ comments to his right, "Dumbass."

2D quietly sings _Fire Flies_ to himself. He only notices that Russ is drumming the beat to match his singing when Ace says from the back seat, "I thought we were gonna pick up McDonalds not get a private concert."

"Oh yeah." 2D forgot. His expression grows puzzled. Why did he forget things so much?

Ace replies, "Don't fret over it, D. There are McDonalds everywhere in LA. I'm sure they'll be another one in the next mile or so."

Noodle adds, "We've got plenty of time. You notice there's not much traffic today?"

Russ stops drumming, "Probably cause of the shitty weather."

It is gray and dreary, now that he thinks about it. A drunk Murdoc had once told him that his hair was much prettier than the blue of the sky. Maybe the sky was feeling as shitty as 2D today then.

2D orders a Iced Coffee for Ace, a McMuffin for Noodle and Hotcakes for Russ. He'd like a drink but before he asks he remembers McDonalds doesn't have alcohol so instead he says he'd like some scones.

When the drive through voice responds, "What? Scones?" Russ sighs and leans over to say, "He wants a Bacon, Egg and Cheese biscuit and a Happy Meal."

They eat their food on the way. 2D doesn't care for the Happy Meal other than the small collectible toy. He'd kept quite a few over the years and they were good for helping him remember things, like little mementos. There were some that were even worth good money now too. Like the figurines of those curious little Furby creatures. The toy he gets today is a small yellow rat.

Noodle sneezes from the backseat, "Aww Pikachu!"

"Bless you." 2D says automatically, minding the manners his Mum taught him.

Ace chokes on his coffee.

Russel turns in his seat, leveling Ace with a teasing smile, "You alright Ace?"

Ace beats his chest with a fist, coughing, but nodding fervently. Russ shakes his head with a smile and turns back around.

Noodle reaches forward towards 2D and says, "Can I see it?"

See what? What can't she see? She motions to the toy in his hand and 2D moves it close enough that she grabs it from him.

She pokes at it until a button makes it's cheeks light up.

"It's so cute! Can I hold on to it 2D?"

2D smiles and glances at her in the rearview mirror.

"Aw o'course Noodle. If you like it so much."

She smiles gratefully at him and it makes him feel warm and accomplished.

Ace is no longer spluttering, slipping back into his usual relaxed demeanor.

He pushes his sunglasses back up his nose and comments, "I swear to god, 2D. Could you be any less adorable?"

That wasn't the first time he'd been called that. Fans called him that all the time. He's not entirely sure how to respond to it when it's one of his mates telling him so, most of the time with fans he just smiles and waves and they go nuts.

"Well I uh… you're uh pretty cool. Or you could be less cool? Or... wait..."

Ace smirks with sparkly teeth, crossing his legs and leaning back, perfectly entertained. Russ rolls his eyes but chuckles quietly to himself. He'd been doing that a lot more lately. Laughing. It was nice. The drummer leans down to pull a biscuit out of the McDonalds bag and holds it out towards 2D.

"Eat your food D."

2D eats as much as he can stomach but he still feels pretty shit. By the time they're setting up for the video he's having a hard time of it. It only gets worse when the makeup artist drags him into a chair and starts messing with his hair. He always hated makeup artists touching and prodding at him. Murdoc told him all the time he was pretty, why were they even necessary? They'd hardly cared what he looked like when they shot the Humility video. Why was she being so picky about it now? She takes out what looks like eyeliner and 2D scrunches up his face and sticks his tongue out.

"I need to touch up your eyes, hun. You look tired."

Well that's because he is bloody tired, isn't it? Tired and his stomach hurts and now his head too.

"No. I look fine." He says. Normally he wouldn't talk back but things are changing, aren't they? Russ smiles and laughs more. Noodle no longer sleeps in to avoid Murdoc's hangovers. Ace is here instead of Murdoc.

She leans forward and 2D only leans further back into the chair to avoid her. She gives in, "Alright I'll just try and take care of those bags under your eyes then."

She presses cover up to his face and he relaxes a little. He could fall asleep right now, he thinks. Take a quick nap. Instead once she's done he gets up and takes the pain killers always on his person. 

Once he steps out to the film stage he winces at the bright lights surrounding the area where Noodle and Russ are setting up. Fucking hell, how many lights did they need?

Ace is suddenly next to him. He's not sure when he got there or where he came from. "Hey you alright, scatterbrain?"

2D shakes his head. "'M fine."

He ignores the perplexed look Ace sends him as he walks over to the stage to join Noodle and Russ.

The video shoot goes great. At least that's what the production team tells him. He thinks Noodle would disagree because she's the one rubbing 2D's back while he throws up in the toilet once it’s all over.

The pills from earlier come out and some bits of bacon and sausage. He'd like it better if there was some alcohol in it too, it be normal then but he hadn't drunk much of anything last night.

He had at least made it back to the hotel before throwing up everywhere. He'd say that was an accomplishment. Maybe Murdoc would be proud. How many times had Murdoc done this? Thrown up all over the toilet while 2D sat nearby and offered whatever comfort he could.

 _"You know what they say, Muds. Better out than in."_ He had said one time patting Murdoc on the back while his friend leaned over the toilet.

 _"Shut up, you idiot!"_ Murdoc had replied.

He wants to cry again. Wants to cry so bad. But not in front of Noodle. He retches over the toilet again instead. There's a hesitant voice at the bathroom door.

"Hey… I brought some water for him."

Noodle shifts and 2D tries to breath. He needs air.

"Thanks Ace."

She rubs her hands up and down his back and says softly, "It's okay 2D. No one's going to hurt you. You're okay."

He breathes in and out. In and out. He’s so tired.

"’M sorry."

Noodle's hand stills on his back. She laughs, "Sorry for what? You haven't done anything, silly."

What's she mean? He's done lots of awful things, he's failed lots of people. He fails Murdoc all the time. He leans his head against the toilet seat. His ribs hurt and so does his heart.


	4. Sorcererz

Murdoc used to say the best part of any concert was the after party. Getting drunk off your ass and sleeping with babes. In the past 2D might've agreed with him but he doesn't anymore. In his opinion the best part of it was the concert itself. The performance. So many people watching, dancing, singing along. So many people who had gone through so much, who had hurt so bad, who might still be hurting and they had taken time out of their lives to come see Gorillaz. 

Maybe it's cause he wrote almost all of the lyrics on this album and helped with the production of visuals and collaborating (with Russ, Noodle and Ace's help, of course). But watching people mouth the lyrics as he sings, it was like the world was really truly seeing him. They could understand the hurt and the happiness, all the sadness and the love. They could feel it all with him. 

When they had first started Gorillaz he had felt like this, like he could connect with people. But then he had started singing for Murdoc. To make him happy. This time he was in control. The words were his and his alone to share.

Noodle is engaging with the crowd near the front of the stage as Russel sets the beat for _Sorcererz_. The energy that Russel always manages to bring is contagious and 2D can't help but move to it, tapping his foot, and swaying a little in front of the mic. Ace is to the right of the stage not too far from 2D, his usual toothy smile and sunglasses present. He'd taken to the concert stage like a natural. 2D was proud. He was proud of all of them.

_Hey! What is this drumming I'm hearing now! All over me..._

He'd once told Murdoc when he sings it's like he's not really himself. It's like… like all the things inside him he can't say come out. It's through music that he can express the depths of his heart and soul. 

Noodle wanders over to him and she playfully bumps her shoulder against his as he goes into the chorus of the song. She's bouncing up and down and mouthing the lyrics like she's young again jumping around to _DARE_ in her room.

He goes into the last part of the chorus and Ace is suddenly next to him. When he goes to sing _Innervision!_ Ace leans over and sings it into the mic with him. It sounds funny with their voices mixing together and 2D laughs when it echoes. The crowd cheers louder. Ace's sunglasses are far enough down his nose that 2D sees him wink his direction. His heart feels so light he thinks it might fly away. He puts that feeling into his singing and it's only near the end of the concert that his heart starts to weigh heavy.

 _Souk Eye_ is the last song and the hardest for 2D to get through. He's always about ready to cry after _Fire Flies_ so it takes all his emotional strength not to fall apart at the piano while he sings _Souk Eye._ It means so much to him and he doesn't want to mess it up. It's for Murdoc, after all. 

He wonders if their original bassist might've heard it in prison somehow. If he knows how much 2D wishes he'd stay away and also desperately misses him at the same time. He's his best friend. And as much pain as he's caused 2D he still loves him. He hates himself for it but he does, no matter what. He doubts Murdoc loves him now after everything, but he's not really sure if he ever did to begin with. He manages to get through it this time finishing off the song with the notes from his dream echoing out and over the crowd. 

* * *

2D is drunk. Not as drunk as he's been in the past but drunk enough that he's having a hard time walking straight. He's trying to get back to his hotel room. He needs the loo. 

He runs into what looks like a lovely woman and politely remarks, "'Scuse me, ma'am."

Someone is laughing at him. They laugh and laugh and laugh and a goofy smile spreads across his face as he says, "Feel Good!"

Whoever it is stops and then laughs again. He looks over to see sunglasses and dazzling teeth in a big smile. "What are you doing out here, scatterbrain?"

Ace is smoking, leaning against a car. 2D thinks if you looked up the definition of cool in the dictionary you'd find a picture of Ace Copular. Shiny teeth, sunglasses and all.

"I need the toilet." He manages to explain.

Ace looks very amused. "Really now? You aren't gonna find a toilet out here, genius. If you're trying to get back to the hotel you went the wrong way."

Was that why it was so quiet and the lady he bumped into looked mysteriously like a pole? Why was Ace by himself out here?

He says as much, "Oh. What are you doing out here then?"

Ace always looks intrigued by their conversations. It's nice to know someone likes talking to him. The bassist shrugs. "I was gonna pilfer some cars."

2D frowns. That wasn't good. They'd probably get in trouble for that.

Ace smirks playfully at his expression holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "Kidding. I just wanted some quiet for a while."

That was nice. It was quiet out here. 2D watches as Ace brings the cigarette between his fingers back up to his mouth. He stumbles over. "You got an extra... uh…"

He motions to Ace's cigarette. Ace pulls a box of Marlboro out of his jacket pocket and lights a cigarette with his own before handing it over to him. 

Ace didn't smoke much so he's surprised that he has a box on him. He's not going to complain though.

"Mind if I join you?"

"I thought you needed the bathroom?"

2D ignores him and leans against the car beside him. He doesn't need to go that bad. Not right now anyway.

He exhales and watches the cloud of smoke float through the air and up to the night sky. He can make out some stars even though they're in such a big city. Light pollution and all that. His smoke looks like it's spiraling. How much shit is the atmosphere full of now anyway? That's awful. One day it was gonna come back down and kill them all, wasn't it?

He remembers a song. He'd been with Noodle on the roof of their hut hotel in Jamaica. It had been a night like this with the crickets and the stars and 2D had started thinking about the universe. 

The words come to him now and he sings just a little slurred,

_Gravity... on me. Never let me down gently. Gravity… with me. Never let me go, no, no. Gravity…_

Ace exhales his own stream of cigarette smoke whilst 2D finishes the verse. "Damn… do you always sing that good when you're drunk?"

2D makes a face. Did he not like his singing when he wasn't drunk?

Ace grins and explains. "Most people don't sing like an angel when they're wasted. You're something else."

2D ponders that, then says, "I can sing bad too." 

He starts reciting the lyrics to a _Powerpuff Girls_ song in his speaking voice, cause Noodle had helpfully showed him some episodes weeks ago. He can very clearly remember now sitting with a ten year old Noodle back at Kong, and watching episodes together on her small television. He also remembers the Mojo Jojo shirt she had given him for his birthday only weeks later. 

"Fighting Crime! Trying to save the world! Here they come-"

Ace laughs and shoves at him. "What are you? Five?"

The action is nothing more than playful banter with no real malice behind it but 2D's body still tenses on instinct. He doesn't fall over or anything but he does stop singing and his brain temporarily panics. He fights the urge to bring his hands up to shield his face.

There's silence. Far too much silence. Why isn't Murdoc saying something? Where did he go?

"2D? Hey, 2D?"

Oh right. Murdoc isn't here. He's not here but 2D wishes he was here even though he shouldn't. He shouldn't miss Murdoc but he does. 

_I'm sorry Murdoc..._

"2D… it's okay. It's just Ace. I won't hurt you."

He opens his eyes but doesn't remember when he'd closed them. Ace is about the same height as him. It's something he hadn't really noticed until now cause Ace is so close. His sunglasses are down his nose and he can see his eyes watching him with concern.

Of course, Ace wouldn't hurt him. He was funny, he was cool, he was nice. 2D had been singing bad before. He should make it up to him.

"Want me to sing a song for you?"

Ace doesn't look too happy about what 2D just said. He's frowning. He shifts so they're not as close.

He shrugs. "I don't care. You can sing if you want to. Good or bad, doesn't matter."

2D clutches the cigarette in his right hand with shaky fingers.

"Noodle said you told her you were a huge fan of ours years ago. You must have a favorite song."

"I like all you guys's songs. I just don't want you to sing something for me if you don't feel like it." He readjusts his glasses and looks away at the sky, leaning against the hood of the car. Music was all 2D had to offer. What else was he good for?

2D wishes he wasn't wearing sunglasses so he could see his eyes. It was dumb wearing them in the dark anyway. 

When 2D doesn't say anything else, just keeps staring at him, the bassist eventually gives in and says, plain and simple, "Fine. I like _Slow Country_. Used to listen to it all the time."

He's just relieved he didn't ask him to sing something from _Plastic Beach._ The songs weren't bad or anything, in fact Murdoc had done an excellent job with them, they were just… hard for him to think about without getting upset.

"That's a good one." He comments. He can practically hear the piano intro in his head as he begins singing with ease.

_City life. Calling me all the time. Me and my soul. Geared to attack. Never get another chance. So what you doing? Gotta get money. Can't quite do it._

_Can't stand your loneliness. Can't stand your loneliness. Can't stand your loneliness. Can't stand your loneliness..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love watching the Now Now's concert visuals, they are amazing! I think the ace cards that appear during Sorcererz are adorable and all the the visuals during Magic City and Lake Zurich are so hypnotizing. There's a full video of the concert [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngvWfjlQqFY) if you're interested.


	5. Magic City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter can be summed up as Ace attempting to flirt with 2D but 2D is oblivious and doesn't know what's going on.

2D can't find his toaster. He's heard that story before about refrigerators running away. But he's never heard of toasters running off. 

"You seen my toaster, Noodle?"

She looks up from where she's sitting on the steps of her trailer, playing with her phone. Her hair is pinned up and she's wearing yoga pants and a shirt with Minnie Mouse on it. Minnie Mouse is making a smoochy face. Noodle is making a grumpy face.

"Your toaster?"

2D nods. She looks so tired. He hopes she isn't having nightmares like the ones he was having before the tour.

She squints at him. "2D are you high?"

"Am I what?"

"High."

"Hello!"

Noodle brings a hand up to her forehead. "Oh, 2D…"

She gets to her feet now and walks over to him. She has no makeup on and 2D thinks she looks cute without it but he doesn't tell her that cause she got mad at him the last time he'd called her that. She said it was because she didn't like being treated like a little girl.

Noodle yawns and stretches. "Alright, so your toaster. Where did you last see it?"

"My trailer. I woke up this morning and it was gone. You don't think it ran away do you?"

Noodle looks at him funny. "Um no 2D... I don't think so."

Well that was a relief. If Noodle said so it mustn't have.

She runs a hand through her hair. "C'mon. I think I know where it is."

He follows her through the assortment of tour trucks. It's a very nice day out he notices. They're currently in Philadelphia where their next performance would be. They'd just come from Toronto and Montreal in Canada. 2D's traveled to lots of places but he'd never gotten the chance to explore Canada thoroughly. Murdoc had told him there wasn't anything worth seeing in Canada but 2D would disagree. Maybe it was cause his eyesight had improved recently but he thought there was always something worth looking at everywhere. Take for example the stickers on the front door of Russ's trailer or the dog poop he'd almost just stepped in. Those were things he was only really looking at now.

Ace is outside his trailer lounging in a fold out chair with a mug and a shit eating grin on his face. His jacket has quite a few sewed patches on it, that say all kinds of things. It be nice to take a closer look but even from a few feet away he can make out the words Idaho, Kansas, Colorado, Oregon. And he sees one that looks like a ferris wheel. 

"Hey morning, Noods! 2D!"

Noodle's face scrunches up. 

"I told you not to call me that Ace. It sounds odd."

"Oh c'mon it's just a nickname. If you don't like it, I'm open to suggestions."

Noodle shakes her head and replies, "We're looking for 2D's toaster. You know where it is, don't you?"

Ace brings a hand to his chest. "What? I have no idea what you're talking about. You aren't accusing me of stealing, are you?"

Is she accusing him of stealing? 2D looks to Noodle for an explanation but she ignores him, crossing her arms and leveling Ace with a glare but it looks more like a pout to 2D.

Ace grins with mischief. "Hmm now that I think about it I might've come across a toaster this morning. But I don't have it anymore. I sold it off to Russ."

Noodle’s eyes widen. "You stole it? Then sold it to Russ? Why?"

That was ridiculous. How much money was a toaster worth anyway?

2D interjects, "That is a bit silly. Did you get a good deal off it?"

Noodle rears her head at him. "2D!"

"Oh yeah. Your toaster wasn't exactly in the best condition but five dollars wasn't too bad for it."

2D frowns now. "It's worth more than that! That toaster can make all kinds of things. Like… like toast!"

Ace is a tad surprised at 2D's words but as always he seems thoroughly content a moment later, leaning further back in his chair with a pleased smile.

Noodle sighs. "Whatever, Ace. Come on 2D, let's just get your toaster back from Russ."

She grabs his hand and tugs him to follow her. 2D hears Ace chortle and say, "Nice talking to you!" 

He tries to wave goodbye but Noodle tugs his hand harder and he thinks better of it.

When they find Russ he's not too interested in handing the toaster over. 2D can't blame him. It's a good toaster. 

"If it means that much to you I'll sell it back. Five dollars."

Noodle shakes her head but she does laugh a little. "All this for a toaster. Really, Russ." At the same time 2D interrupts, "No deal! Ten dollars!"

Russ furrows his brow. "You do know that's higher than five, D?"

He squints, prepared to argue his point if he has to. 

"It's worth more than five."

Russ can't help himself and laughs loud and warm. 2D is good at making him laugh these days it seems. 

"Alright man." 

Russ enters his trailer to get the toaster and 2D takes out two fives from his wallet. He hands the toaster back to him as 2D gives him the two fives. 

Noodle watches the exchange with a smile. "I have to admit that was kind of fun. I wonder though, do you know why Ace took his toaster in the first place Russ? I know he has a um... affinity for stealing objects sometimes but 2D's toaster isn't really worth it."

Russ doesn't bother looking up as he pulls out his wallet to pocket the two fives. "He wanted to mess with him was all. Said he thinks 2D's interesting and funny."

That was… um… he's not sure, really. He feels a bit weird about it but he doesn't know why. Not a bad weird, in fact he's happy. Very happy. It must be cause he now knew Ace had taken to him well. He had been worried he wouldn't like him back when they first met, and after how he'd acted the day of the _Humility_ shoot he couldn't blame him if he did dislike him. It was reassuring to know their newest member didn't resent him for his earlier behavior.

Later 2D is practicing _One Percent_ on the piano or sort of practicing _One Percent._ He's messing with the chords a little, adding some extra notes. The stage is still getting set up and most of the crew is breaking for lunch leaving the piano and the rest of the equipment already on the stage alone. 2D had eaten some toast with jam not long after retrieving his toaster so he wasn't too hungry. A bit thirsty though.

"I should've known it was you playing such pretty music." 

2D's hands still and he looks up to smile brightly at Ace as he approaches. He's got two sodas and a bag of chips. He’s not sure why Ace has an extra soda on him but he hopes it’s for him. He’d prefer a peppermint tea but he’s more than willing to drink anything right now.

Thankfully Ace was thinking about him cause he holds one of the bottles out and asks, "Want one?" 

2D gratefully takes the offered soda. Ace leans against the piano and opens his own bag of chips. 2D is too busy sipping away at his drink to talk much but he plans to ask Ace about the patches on his jacket. Had he really been to all those places? He'd grown up in America so maybe. Had he hiked through the Rocky Mountains? Seen Yellowstone? He'd like to go there as well one day. Maybe he could even write a song about them.

"Hey uh 2D…" 

He stops guzzling his drink down to give Ace his attention. He seems hesitant, looking down at his feet instead of at 2D.

"What's your um… relationship with Murdoc like?"

That was a strange question. He responds on instinct without really thinking about it.

"I love him."

He takes a sip of his soda and doesn't notice Ace gripping the edge of the piano so hard his knuckles turn white.

He pulls the soda away from his lips and continues, voice growing sad. "He's my best friend."

Ace shifts to get a better look at him. "Wait? Just best friends?"

The singer nods a little, enough that Ace can see. "I hate him sometimes though. He can be a bastard…"

He's suddenly more interested in a spider crawling across the floor rather than this conversation.

"Right… Noodle told me he well… he used to hurt you."

The singer glares as the spider crawls towards the drum set. Why were they talking about this again?

"Murdoc is really smart. Sometimes he gets a grand idea for a song and he gets mad if it isn't going the way he planned."

Ace responds, sounding a bit frustrated, "That doesn't give him the right to hurt you."

His therapist had told him that too once. She said she thought he had Stockholm Syndrome. He has no idea what that's supposed to mean, it hadn't made any sense when she tried to explain it. He hadn't talked with her in a while with the album and the tour going on.

He stands up feeling suddenly very annoyed. He decides it's probably because the spider is climbing up the legs of the drum set now, dooming it to either get crushed or go flying off somewhere when they play later. He places his soda down on the piano and walks over to it, bending down to reach for the bug.

"Uh 2D… whatcha doing over there?"

With his tongue sticking out and a squinted eye he manages to snatch it in his palm before it scurries off.

He makes his way over to Ace and holds his hand out. "Caught myself a spider, see? Little muppet would've got hurt if he stayed on the drums."

Ace pulls his sunglasses down to look at it closer. "Uh… yeah, looks like you did."

He sits back down on the bench and watches it walk around on his hand. It distracts him for maybe ten seconds then he looks at Ace and asks, "What's the ferris wheel on your jacket for?"

Ace follows his train of thought well, looking down at the patch on his shoulder. 

"This? Got it at Cedar Point in Ohio. It's vintage."

2D leans forward to get a closer look, mindful of the spider still in his hand. "Really? You been on Corkscrew? My dad used to talk about it sometimes cause it was the first roller coaster in the world with three inversions."

Ace's smile from earlier finds its place again. "I have actually. It's fun I guess, not the most exciting roller coaster I've ever been on by a long shot. That would be Kingda Ka in New Jersey."

2D is excited now looking at him with wide big white eyes.

"Wowww! The tallest roller coaster in the world! I'd love to see it one day."

Ace smirks playfully. "You know Mexico City is our last tour spot and there's a Six Flags right around the corner. They got Medusa Steel Corner there, it ain't quite Kingda Ka but it's nothing to laugh at either." 

Ace leans forward a little with dazzling teeth and says, "So what do you say me and you head over there the day after the tour's over. Have a little fun, just the two of us."

The way he says it makes 2D feel very jittery. It's not a bad jittery though, he's excited.

"Yeah that sounds great, Ace! It's been a while since I've been to any fairgrounds, I've really missed them. I used to work the dodgems at my dad's park, ya see. Did you know they weren't originally intended to ram into each other? That's why they're called dodgems like "dodge 'em." But then some blokes patented the name bumper cars and people started knocking into each other on purpose. It's good fun but it hurts something awful when they run you over."

Ace is looking at him funny. He's not smirking now, his smile looks almost dopey, like he's intoxicated or something. That can't be right though. Last he'd checked Ace had just had soda to drink like him. Ace wasn't much of a drinker anyway.

"ねえ!"

Ace leans away and 2D sees Noodle waving her arms at him where she's talking to one of their crew members. 

He yells at her, "What Noodle?!"

She glares at him and yells back, "Come here!"

Oh that was right. He should help set up. "Can you take him for me, Ace?"

"Take who?"

2D shoves the spider under his nose to clarify. Ace grimaces but offers his hand out for 2D to drop the spider in anyway. 

"Uhm yeah... You got it, boss."

* * *

The dodgems ride in Mexico City isn't much different than the one at his dad's fairground. It makes him nostalgic to see something so familiar from such a happy point in his life, maybe not as much had changed as he thought. Sure a lot of things had changed but the dodgems were the same so that must mean something. Now that he was thinking about it, what had become of his father's fairground? He really ought to check up with his mum about that. 

Noodle and Russel had come too which didn't surprise 2D cause he'd mentioned it to them and where one of them went the entire band was likely to follow. The two original band members had disappeared somewhere not long ago and he was alone with Ace who had been cranky about something this morning but seemed to be feeling better now. Probably just tired.

Ace motions to the ride resting his other hand on the rails surrounding the dodgem arena. "So you used to work these, right? How do they run exactly?"

The singer fidgets excitedly with his fingers. 2D might not be knowledgeable about a lot of things but he did know a lot about dodgems.

"Well electricity flows through it in a circuit. The ceiling releases the electricity that goes through that wheel at the top there. Then it travels through a wire in the metal pole that enters the motor and finishes with another wheel under the dodgem that serves as the contact for the floor. That's why you can see the connecty wheel at the top spark against the ceiling sometimes. The pedal is actually the on and off switch for the motor. It's really wicked. Life is full of loopy circles and so are dodgems."

Ace is all smirky. "Huh. Shouldn't the floor shock you then?"

2D shakes his head and explains, "Only if you were able to touch both the floor, or uh the dodgem, and the ceiling at the same time. It needs two circuit points to shock you."

"Well that's comforting."

Two kids in a dodgem slam into the back of another kid's car and the smaller kid slams his head into the steering wheel. 

Ace scoffs to his left. "I'm not surprised parents let their kids on these things. It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye."

Ace must realize something because he jolts and frantically adds, "Not that there's anything wrong with someone whose hurt their eyes or anything. I- I mean it's not a good thing to lose an eye but, you know, I don't mean…"

2D tilts his head, not entirely sure what he's getting at.

Trying to recover his usual cool demeanor Ace coughs and then says, "Uh, anyway, you uh mentioned getting run over by one of them before. I'm assuming you aren't too keen on riding it again?"

"Oh no, it be great to ride one!"

Ace raises an eyebrow. "You know that doesn't make a lick of sense. Most people wouldn't want to go near a bumper car after something like that."

"What? It's not the dodgems fault. I was the one standing on it."

Ace watches him carefully like he's trying to read his mind or something. 

Eventually he chuckles. "Murdoc's lucky he found someone like you."

2D blinks a few times. What does Murdoc have to do with any of this? Ace's words are nice to hear though.

_Murdoc was lucky to find you._

He supposed it was true. Where would Gorillaz be without him, after all?

The bassist steps away from the railing. "You don't need to worry about it, anyway. There's two people per car so I'll make sure to keep you safe."

Ace winks at him as he walks past 2D to get in the line for the ride. Ace must really know how to throw 2D off cause it takes a couple seconds for the wheels in his head to turn and work out what he just said.

He follows behind him a moment later with a big appreciative smile. He's not worried something bad will happen but it was nice to know he wouldn't be alone in any case.

By sunset 2D feels happier than he has in a long time. Not that he wasn't happy before but it's like… he's only realizing now he hasn't quite had a day like today in a long while, where he didn't feel like something was looming over him. He had happy days like this all the time when he was younger. What had happened? 

_"You're hurt Stuart. I don't think you realize it, but you are and you need time to heal."_

He rarely thinks too much on what his therapist had told him in the past but her words come back to him now. Maybe she was right. He hadn't thought about it until today but it did always seem like there was a dark cloud hanging over his head. It was gone for now at least.

He shovels another spoon of mint ice cream in his mouth. Noodle and Russ had joined them for a couple rides, such as the Medusa Steel Corner, but they'd mysteriously disappeared again thirty minutes ago. He's alone with Ace now and they'd found a bench with a nice view of the Ferris wheel to eat the ice cream Ace had graciously paid for. 

2D had met lots of nice people in his life like Noodle and Russ, sometimes Murdoc and the old woman who gave him a cigarette yesterday. But Ace had been especially nice to him today. He hadn't complained when 2D had commented he needed the loo right before they'd gotten on the teacups so they had to wait in line again. He'd also agreed to go with 2D on the river rapids ride even though he had looked terrified for some reason. And he'd even bought them ice cream. Ace was probably the kindest person he'd ever met. 

He's about to grab some more of his ice cream when another spoon collides with his own and scoops up a chunk of it.

"Heeeyyy!"

Ace is grinning like the Cheshire Cat again. 

"You were spacing out. You snooze you lose, 2D."

He huffs and scoops up as much ice cream as possible onto his spoon so Ace has less to steal. It only takes a few seconds before his head hurts and 2D makes a face.

"Uurrghhh!" 

He'd forgotten about brain freeze. Ace laughs at him and steals some more of his ice cream. Once 2D recovers, he glances at the bassist and decides to try and take some of the other man's sundae as revenge. He waits until Ace is looking away at the sunset. He sticks his tongue out, concentrates and then attempts to strike. Ace quickly turns and grabs his arm before 2D can get anywhere near his ice cream.

"Aww… "

Ace laughs again and 2D thinks he has a very interesting laugh. It's not easily forgettable and that's good cause 2D forgets stuff all the time. 

"Nice try, scatterbrain. But if you really mean to sneak something off someone you need to work on your poker face."

The singer pouts and easily pulls his arm back. He takes another bite of his own ice cream. He doesn't know all that much about Ace, he suddenly realizes. It was only fair he tried to get to know him better, after how nice he'd been all day.

"Hey Ace, how'd you get into acting?"

The other man looks a little surprised at the sudden question. He composes himself then bluntly responds, "Well, you know. There was an audition and I tried out. That's the end of it."

2D's mouth pulls down at the corners.

"That can't just be it. You have to take classes for it, don't you?"

Ace isn't smiling anymore. 2D finds he misses it, no one else had such a dazzling smile.

"Not exactly. One day I was on the streets, the next day I was in showbiz. Simple as that."

"Wow! You must've been a natural then."

He merely shrugs. 

2D continues, "Well you're real good at it. I get nervous before our shows but you always seem so cool and collected."

Ace is stirring his own ice cream, not meeting 2D's gaze. 

"Acting's really not that hard. Everybody's always pretending to be something they're not to make someone else happy."

He'd never... thought of it like that. He's struck by a sudden thought that unsettles him.

"You're not… pretending right now, are you?"

Ace quickly turns to face him, eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "What? No, of course not."

2D nods, relieved. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want you to pretend to be something you’re not around me. You should just be yourself.”

The singer looks away to watch the Ferris wheel spinning, completely oblivious to Ace still staring at him. The ferris wheel looks wicked with the sunset behind it. The light reflects just right off the metal supports and it almost looks like the sun, except much closer.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"You always been naturally gifted at music?" Ace asks.

"Oh. I did take some keyboard lessons growing up. But I never had voice lessons."

Ace's mouth opens a little in surprise. "Wait? Seriously?"

2D shakes his head. "I used to sing in the shower sometimes but I never sung for anyone else until I met Murdoc. He was really excited about it when I first started singing. Said I had the voice of an angle."

Ace looks astonished but manages to say, "I think you mean angel."

"No, I'm pretty sure Murdoc said angle. Now it's my turn to ask a question, right?"

Ace looks thrown off for a moment but his lips tug up into a grin eventually. "Sure, shoot."

"Alright, so how'd you and Murdoc meet?" It had been something on his mind since Noodle had explained Murdoc had given her a contact for a temporary replacement, and it had also been the reason they were originally wary of Ace. He really should've asked earlier.

"We met at one of your shows actually. Murdoc got word a well known actor was present and met with me after the show. We hit it off so he invited me backstage for a drink and the rest is history."

2D tries to remember anything like that but his mind comes back blank.

"Was I there?"

Ace doesn't seem too worried about the question but 2D is. It was frustrating having all these holes in his memory. 

"We passed by you on the way to his room backstage, but we didn't properly meet."

He doesn't remember anything of the sort but he supposes that's cause Murdoc met with people backstage all the time. Most of the time with women. 

Ace says after eating some more ice cream. "I really was a huge fan of you guys back then. It was the coolest thing ever to meet Murdoc, but if I'm being honest I would've liked to have met you back then too." 

2D's face feels a bit warm. "You mean that?"

Ace looks embarrassed himself now as he explains, "Well yeah, you're the singer. Back when I first got the acting gig I was dealing with a lot of stuff and had trouble sleeping at night. Listening to your music was a good way to keep my mind preoccupied and it helped. Your voice is uh... kind of hypnotic."

He thinks this might be it, the end goal of all this. The reason they did what they did. The hope that their music might connect with someone out there, to let them know they weren't alone. He doesn't know what to say, he's so happy. So happy that it… feels like too much, too foreign. It almost hurts. His eyes are watering.

He looks down at the now melted mint ice cream in a plastic bowl balancing precariously on his legs and sniffles. Ace notices.

"H-hey! Don't cry…"

Except he feels so overwhelmed. It had been such a good day. Why was he crying? 

He mumbles, "I- I'm sorry."

He tries to stop it, he really does. But despite his efforts a few tears fall then a few more. He feels an arm wrap around him very slowly and Ace is pulling him to his side.

"No… it's fine. I didn't mean to upset you."

2D shakes his head and tries to stop crying. "I'm happy… It's- it's just a lot."

There must be something wrong with him. Everything had been going so well, why did he have to ruin it by being so emotional all the time? Another arm wraps around him and 2D feels like a moron crying into Ace's jacket. He's getting it all wet.

"Something's… wrong with me." He manages to say.

Ace is rubbing his back now. "Don't say that… there's something wrong with everyone, you know. We're all a little hurt and messed up, that's just part of being human. Sucks doesn't it? We got stuck with a pretty shitty deal."

2D snorts at the comment and leans a little further into him. It takes a few seconds or maybe a few minutes but eventually he relaxes and the tears stop. It feels so nice like this. So warm. He thinks he could fall asleep here, even with the sound of people screaming and metal against metal in the background. He's craving a drink or maybe a cigarette but he's far too comfortable to move.

"Thanks, Ace…" He says into his jacket. 

Ace doesn't ask what he's thanking him for. Instead he just pulls 2D closer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Magic City is my favorite song of the Now Now and one of the on screen visuals during the song in concert is a Ferris wheel so I worked really hard to find a way to include one in this story somehow. This chapter was probably my favorite to write so far! Also I know there's an interview where 2D mentions Ace stole his toaster so this is my interpretation of that as well.


	6. Fire Flies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally got around to reading most of the comments on this fic and I just wanna say thank you all so much!! You're all so kind and I'm so glad you're liking this fic so far, it's been a lot of fun to write! Again thank you all so so much and I hope you continue to enjoy it!

With the tour officially over, they'd returned to Studio 13 about two week ago. At first it had been nice to be back. Without an album to work on 2D was free to watch zombie movies, eat as many snacks as he liked and lounge around in his room or on the couch. And with no Murdoc around he could do it all without getting yelled at! It was brilliant! Perfect… it was different. A week goes by and he starts having a hard time sleeping. For some reason the walls of his room become something intimidating instead of comforting. They'd spent most of their time recording _The_ _Now Now_ and _Humanz_ at Studio 13 and it was the closest thing he had to a home after Murdoc burnt down Kong, Plastic Beach and the whale incident. It shouldn't make him so jittery to be back, but he is. He's jittery and antsy.

He hadn't heard anything from Murdoc in a while. When he'd asked Russ and Noodle about him, they'd told 2D not to worry about it. But he was restless and with each passing day he felt crankier. What was he supposed to be doing? No one was telling him.

Now they're in some bar not far from Studio 13 and it's meant to be great fun. A very worthy distraction from his lack of sleep and anxiety. The beer is nice and there's a beautiful lady talking to him and this time he knows she's not a pole or a hat stand. 

She shimmies closer in her seat. "You really wrote the whole album by yourself?"

"Oh yeah!" 2D replies automatically. He's tipsy and he almost falls off his own bar stool. "Every word of it is mine. I ain't tied down by anyone anymore. Free as a bird!"

Her lips curl up in what 2D thinks is supposed to be an alluring smile.

"Ohhh so impressive! Did you compose it all yourself too?"

"Yep. The entire album is my vision." He feels a bit guilty about something but he's too buzzed to think on it. She wraps a hand around his arm. Out of the corner of his eye he thinks he sees Ace watching him from a nearby table, but when he glances that direction the bassist is very aggressively glaring at his drink instead, while Noodle talks to him from across the table.

"Amazing… you know if you're not busy we could go somewhere else." The lady leans forward and whispers, "I'd love to make you sing for me, if you know what I mean."

2D doesn't know what she means.

"What's the matter with here? I like this bar and I can sing for you right now. What song would you like?"

She scrunches up her face. "Oh um… well I didn't mean actually sing. I meant well… you know…"

He's starting to get annoyed. If she was trying to get him to understand she should just tell him what she meant.

"I don't know. But like I said I can sing a song for you. Any Gorillaz song."

She looks panicked and says, "Hmmm… well… h-how about the one about… about love."

2D squints at her. Why did this bar have such bright orange lights? The one above him was starting to make his head hurt.

"Which one d'ya mean? I've sung loads of songs about love."

Now she looks frustrated, rolling her eyes. "Then just surprise me."

Maybe it's because he's drunk, or cause the lights are giving him a headache, or cause he can't remember the last time he took his pain killers but he's feeling very agitated. Where did this lady even come from? He'd been alone only a few minutes ago.

"You don't even know any of 'em, do you?" He accuses.

She grimaces. "Look… I just wanna have a good time tonight and I'm feeling especially promiscuous. I'd be more than willing to let you have your way with me."

His mind fumbles over the word promiscuous for a couple seconds which only makes him more frustrated and his head starts to pound. He is very much done talking with this lady.

"Sod off!" He puts simply.

She glares at him and makes a scene of getting up and yelling, "You're a real piece of work. Bastard!" 

She stomps off but he doesn't really care. He asks the bartender for another drink. That's when Russ appears from wherever he'd been and grabs 2D's newest drink before he can take a sip.

"Hey!"

"What the hell are you doing, man? You're acting like an ass to everyone."

That sounded… familiar.

He tries to pull his drink back. "She was a broad. Didn't even know any of my songs."

Russ glares at him. "Your songs? They're our songs."

The singer huffs and looks away, trying to ignore him. He's not at all in the mood for this.

Russ is quiet for maybe three seconds, then he sighs and sits down. "Alright, we need to talk. You've been acting off all week. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Everything's perfectly fine. We're back home and I'm doing fine."

"Okay. Then explain to me why you feel the need to go around and tell everyone you wrote the entire album by yourself?"

2D glares at a picture of a horse on the wall, refusing to actually give Russel his full attention. 

"Cause it's the truth. I deserve more credit."

Now Russ sounds like he's getting frustrated. "We worked on it together. You can't seriously think you didn't need any of our help."

2D frowns. What's Russ trying to say? That he's not capable or something?

"I don't need any help. I'm perfectly capable on my own. I don't need anyone." 

_"Especially not Murdoc..."_ He thinks but doesn't say aloud.

"Really, D? Because last I checked the rest of us held it together even when you'd forget your own lyrics in concert."

Now he definitely has 2D's attention. He spins around on his stool and scowls at him. That was one time! And it was cause he'd had a terrible headache and could hardly think.

"That wasn't my fault! This band wouldn't be anything without me and you know it!"

"Um you two… what's going on?"

Ace and Noodle are standing next to the bar. Noodle is looking between them with frantic eyes. Ace's eyes are hidden behind his sunglasses but he's not smirking or smiling, so he must be unhappy as well. 

Russ regards them and says, "2D thinks he's better than the rest of us."

He grinds his teeth together. "I never said that! I said you wouldn't be anything without me and that's the truth! That's why you're so sodding jealous of me all the time!"

Russ narrows his eyes. "Are you serious, man? No one is jealous of you. Who would be when you're such a dumbass."

Ace tries to interject, "Guys, come on..."

2D feels his eyes burning with angry tears. "None of you appreciate me! Even after-"

Russ rolls his eyes. "What do you expect-"

The singer interrupts before he can finish, "You didn't do anything! Murdoc would hit me and lock me in my room for days! And you did nothing!"

He flinches at his own words when he realizes what he'd just said. Where had that come from? What did that even have to do with anything? It's really quiet. Everyone is just staring at him. Even the bartender who'd been pretending to wash cups is staring at him. Russ looks surprised, Ace is frowning and Noodle looks… so lost. He feels awful, worse than he had the entire night. 2D hates it. He hates himself. He quickly gets up and tries to leave, but of course he trips and winds up with his face against the floor. 

"2D? Hey…" Ace is trying to help him up. He pushes him away and stumbles down a set of stairs.

Everything's fuzzy but he knows he eventually makes it to the loo and when he looks in the mirror he sees impossibly white eyes, blue hair and red. His nose is bleeding.

He falls against the bathroom floor, head pounding. There's no one around to talk to him or yell at him. He's completely alone.

_Something's wrong with me._

No, that wasn't true. Ace had said there was something wrong with everyone. He was just like everyone else. So why did it hurt so much? Why did he feel so different? He brings his knees up and sobs.

"2D…?"

That's Russ isn't it. He curls up further against the wall even as the other man kneels down in front of him. 

He feels a gentle hand on his knee. "C'mon D… you're alright…"

He's not alright though. He's shaking and he can't stop crying. "Russ… I-I'm sorry..." 

Russ doesn't say anything, instead he pulls out a handkerchief and starts trying to clean the blood off 2D's face.

Through the tears and the blood and the sobs 2D manages to say, "I-I'm sorry… I- I didn't mean it… I don't know what I'm meant to be doing… how I'm… supposed to act… "

Russel's mouth turns down and his own white eyes shine with worry. 2D thinks Russ doesn't deserve this. He shouldn't be dealing with this rubbish right now. All 2D ever did was screw everything up for him. He can't seem to think. His hands are shaking and now his stomach hurts. 

He's too far away and he can't tell what's going on. Ace is there in the doorway saying something to Russ. He hears Noodles' voice. Some bloke tries to go in the bathroom but Ace blocks the door. Russel is talking to him but he can't make it out.

He chokes out between sobs, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

Russ's words filter in and out, "...2D… just… breathe…"

He tries to do what he's asked but he can't stop crying. He's going to drown. He's going to drown them all with his tears.

"...breathe, 2D…"

He tries. But maybe trying isn't good enough cause his vision is starting to go dark. And eventually everything goes black. 

When he wakes up he's lying on a couch. It's a very comfortable couch, like the one they have at Studio 13. The ceiling looks like Studio 13 too. Oh wait… this is Studio 13. He rolls over, groggily blinking at the telly across the room. He's thirsty. Unbearably thirsty. 

There's a movie on. A guy who looks like a zombie in a red sweater is walking around with a bunch of other zombies in an airport. That was nice to wake up to. He liked zombie movies. 

He slowly becomes aware of himself again, recognizing one of Noodles' blankets draped across his torso and pain in his head and nose. He clenches his teeth together and groans when it really starts to hurt.

"Aw hey, welcome back to the living, sunshine. Want something to drink?"

2D grimaces at the sound of Ace's voice. Not cause it was bad or anything, 2D thought he had an interesting voice actually, but the noise was just too loud for him with a headache. The other man is standing in the kitchen doorway and 2D squints at him when he notices it looks like he's not wearing any sunglasses for once.

"Urgh… just water please."

Ace smirks but it doesn't look so cocky without his sunglasses. He'd seen his eyes before but really only glimpses. They're very pretty, 2D thinks. They've got a nice sparkle to them like he's so entertained by the world. 

He's only gone for a few seconds or maybe a minute, then he's offering 2D a cup and some pills. The singer takes them with enthusiasm. He's so focused on guzzling water down and taking the medicine, he doesn't notice Ace moving to sit on the arm of the couch until he already is. 

He's got a bowl of something. It smells good, like the Chinese takeout they'd had the other day. Maybe they'd had leftovers.

"Can I have some?" 2D asks.

Ace makes a gesture with the fork he's using. "No can do, boss. Noodle and Russ were very adamant the only thing I give you is water and crackers."

2D pouts, a tad disappointed. After a few seconds he jolts, realizing what Ace had just said.

Panic creeping into his voice, he sits up and asks, "Are they not here? Where'd they go?"

Ace's eyes grow soft. Not necessarily with sympathy… but they're not harsh or angry.

"Don't worry. Noodle was concerned about something and went to find a contact of Murdocs. I don't think she'll discover much but she was pretty hung up about it. Russ went along to keep her company and so you two could cool off."

Cool off? But he wasn't hot… or maybe… he must mean something about last night. Thinking about it… makes him feel terrible. Russ had been right, he had been acting like an ass, not just yesterday but for most of the week. He didn't even know why, really. And now Russ and Noodle had gone off somewhere. They'd left him behind… at least Ace was still here, but he probably didn't like 2D much after how he'd been acting.

He nervously taps the tips of his fingers together. "I- I didn't mean any of it… I know I've been acting like a bastard… I'm sorr- mphm..."

Ace is suddenly in front of him and he's covered his mouth with a finger, effectively stopping 2D mid sentence.

"No, it's over now. You apologized more than enough before you blacked out."

He freezes. Ace is very close. For what feels like an entirety 2D just stares at him. There's a tension in the air that Ace must feel as well because his eyes briefly glance down to 2D's mouth before he pulls his finger away. The singer swallows feeling a bit funny as Ace sits down on the couch beside him. He tries to clear his head by watching the movie, but zombies attacking people doesn't captivate him like it usually would.

"Uh… did they say when they were coming back?" He asks eventually.

"I don't think they'll be gone that long. Like I said they probably won't find much of anything."

2D thinks over what he'd said before about them leaving and then gets a sudden idea. He looks to Ace with wide frantic eyes.

"Did something happen to Murdoc? He's not dead, is he?"

Ace glares down at his food. "No, from what I know he's still living it up in jail."

2D bites his lip. His fingers twitch nervously and he fidgets for the next minute, switching sitting positions, tapping his feet, even biting his nails until Ace says, "Seriously, don't worry about it. Just try to focus on relaxing, okay?"

He nods slowly and tries to settle down. His head isn't hurting so bad anymore, at least. The pills were starting to work their magic. He looks to the telly and the zombie guy from before is now running around with some girl. For a while he just watches, the drugs he'd taken before slowly easing him into a semblance of normalcy. 

Eventually he is distracted and relaxed enough to comment on the movie. "It be hard, not able to speak at all. I've had dreams before where I've tried singing but I can't. Like I'm being strangled, it's terrible. Imagine having all those words in your head you can't get out."

He says it without really thinking about it. If he looked, he'd see Ace regarding him as if he's trying to solve a well thought out puzzle. But 2D isn't looking cause he is now very distracted by a zombie movie. 

"You know, 2D…"

The zombie is now eating the brain of the girl's boyfriend. Which is really rather unfortunate.

"If you…" Ace stops himself and then tries again. "If something is upsetting you, you can tell me."

The singer looks away from the movie and at Ace who is now looking at the screen in 2D's stead, rather than meet his questioning gaze. He's about to ask what he means when Ace elaborates.

"You've been acting off all week. I get it if you don't want Russ or Noodle worrying about you, but you don't have anything to lose if you wanna tell me what's wrong." He adds on quietly almost as an afterthought, "I won't be here much longer anyway."

That gets his attention. "You won't… be here?"

"Well, yeah. Eventually Murdoc will come back and I'll head home. That was the deal."

2D doesn't know what to say. He wants to say "You don't have to go" or maybe "Don't leave please!" 

Instead he simply says, "I'll miss you…"

Ace is smiling so softly at him. 

"Hey, I'm not leaving yet. Better make the most of it while you can."

He winks at him with his sparkly eyes and it makes 2D feel suddenly very flustered. He looks away, fingers twitching again. He tries to think of something to say to relieve the mixture of nerves in his stomach. Ace had said he could tell him if something was bothering him. He could give that a try.

"I… uh… I don't know what to do with myself… now that we're home. I'm not sure who I'm supposed to be when I'm not singing for someone."

Ace doesn't respond right away and 2D starts feeling like an idiot. He's about ready to snap at him when Ace says, "Well, from what I've noticed when you're not performing you're funny and very interesting to talk to. You're also genuine and creative. You do tend to have your head in the clouds most of the time though."

2D tilts his head watching Ace with big curious eyes.

"You- you really mean that?"

Ace seems a tad embarrassed himself as he says, "Y-yeah… don't get me wrong you can be hard to understand and moody." He shrugs, "But I don't blame you. People lash out when they're stressed even if they don't know why they're feeling a certain way. It's not that different from what you said about the sounds that get stuck in your head. All that hurt's gotta get out somehow."

2D thinks about it. And he thinks about it and thinks about it… the way Ace talks about everything is so casual. As if this is completely normal and 2D's just fine the way he is, even after Ace had been around him at his worst so many times now.

He looks over, wonder apparent in his expression. 

"How'd you figure all that out?"

Ace waves his fork at him again, "I know how people work, it's my gift. Like I said you're hard to understand but… I like that. You don't think like everyone else does. It keeps me on my toes."

That was… 

2D smiles wide and excited. He shifts closer. "I like you too. I like when we talk, you always have something curious to say."

Ace's cheeks are dusted pink but he's still composed enough not to look away, with a mischievous smile and obvious delight in his eyes. He leans closer and says, "Well, it looks like we're on the same wavelength then."

2D wholeheartedly agrees. "Yeah, I think we are on the same radio station."

Ace freezes for a moment, then snorts. "See that's exactly what I mean."

He's leaning closer and 2D doesn't really know what's going on and then he's kissing him. It takes 1… 2…. 3… 4 seconds then it clicks. Lots of things suddenly make sense, and vague gestures and words in his head shift into the correct place. Oh! So that's what he meant! It wasn't the first time 2D had kissed a bloke but the last time he'd been drunk at a party. He's not drunk right now, in fact he's got a little bit of a hangover. Ace must really like him if he was willing to kiss him while he wasn't drunk. The thought makes him feel lots of things. He wasn't very good with relationships, the last one he'd thoroughly enjoyed was with Paula until it all fell apart. It was good to feel like this again. Like he was… loved… maybe?

Ace pulls away with a nervous and worried expression and 2D realizes he hadn't really done much to reciprocate. 

"Um… sorry, I should've asked first."

2D's mouth slowly curves into a dorky smile. "No, it's okay."

With that he takes the initiative and kisses him again. Ace makes a surprised mphm sound when their mouths collide.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My fucking god! These bitches gay! Good for them! Good for them. 
> 
> This chapter is loosely intended to explain why Noodle went to find El Mierda. Supposedly, it was because she thought 2D was acting strange and he might've been possessed by El Mierda but that didn't turn out to be the case. I think they also mentioned that Murdoc sent her to meet him as well, because he thought El Mierda framed him. At least that's my understanding of it based on what was revealed during the FreeMurdoc campaign. 
> 
> Also the movie referenced in this chapter is Warm Bodies


	7. Idaho

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on this, these next couple chapters are pretty hefty. Also there's some heavy making out in this chapter just fyi. I was looking up some stuff and found out that apparently there was an episode of the PPG anime where Ace got drunk. So then why was he not allowed to drink when he joined the Gorillaz?? Come on Cartoon Network...

One fateful day 2D wakes up, gets ready for the day, goes to see what's for breakfast and discovers Murdoc lying on the couch moaning to Noodle and Ace about all the unfortunate things that had happened to him whilst he was away. The next day, Murdoc eats all the groceries 2D bought earlier that week, including the eel he'd bought for Russ and the popsicles he'd got for Ace, then he locks himself in his room. On the third day, Murdoc opens the door to his room and 2D peeks in to see him rummaging through his drawers with wild abandon, grumbling to himself all the while. 2D tries to ask what he's doing, but Noodle grabs his arm and pulls him away from the door.

It was inevitable that Murdoc crashed back into his life again like he always did. And although it makes 2D anxious to hear familiar stomping boots around the house, he's also quite relieved for it. After all, Murdoc wasn't dead and that was a relief cause he'd had so many nightmares about it. In fact, not even a week ago he'd dreamed the man had drowned in sewage, which was both sad and disgusting. 2D liked to think of the band like Noodles' chess pieces, everyone had a role to play and it wasn't right when one of the pieces was gone, it meant they were losing the game. He would know cause it was yet another reason Plastic Beach had been terrible. Without Noodle and Russ on the island nothing about that horrible beach had been right.

Murdoc is back and all their chess pieces are in order once more, except they'd gained another piece along the way. 2D especially liked this piece because he would kiss him in the mornings and didn't get mad when 2D rambled about anything and everything, and he'd show him funny things on his phone like a picture of animals wearing cowboy hats with the caption 'what in tarnation.' 

And while Murdoc was "recovering and needed quiet" according to Noodle, 2D thought of himself as an excellent tour guide and took Ace to places around London, like a store with nothing but neon signs, a coffee shop that used be a lavatory and the park where you could dance on a clown's grave. Ace seemed very happy about it. Happy enough to pull 2D aside in alleys and snog him, which he thought was really a generous reward. The only issue was that Ace had a habit of stealing bites of his food whenever they went out to eat together, but it was a small price to pay for kisses and sparkly smiles.

A week goes by, an amazing week that 2D tries his best to commit to memory cause he's worried he'll somehow forget it. And that next Monday, Ace is still there and he kisses him when they run into each other in the hall. Noodle squeezes past them with her usual groggy morning annoyance and Katsu follows after her dutifully. So really, it's a completely normal morning, that is, until he goes downstairs and Murdoc is at the table with a bottle of rum and a plate of toast. 

"Good morning, Murdoc!" 2D says excitedly, cause he's in a great mood.

Murdoc groans at him. "Faceache…" 

Before 2D's brain manages to work out what's going on, Murdoc is moving towards him. If he were someone else he might realize that, obviously, whatever Murdoc's intending to do isn't a good thing (whether that's pulling his trousers down or hitting him), but 2D's not someone else and he's not that quick on the uptake. Instead, it's Russ who suddenly appears in front of 2D, that stops the bassist. Murdoc stills, eyes widening in surprise. Noodle and Ace appear then and the former quickly shoves Ace towards 2D. 

"Have you heard of that new restaurant, Ace? The one with the um… the toast? Why don't you and 2D go there for breakfast?"

The singer watches the strange exchange with curiosity. Ace recovers enough from Noodle's sudden action to push his sunglasses back up his nose. 

"Uh sure. You Brits like beans on toast right, sunshine?"

Murdoc and Russ completely forgotten, 2D beams. "Yes! But I like cheese and pineapple on sandwiches best. Do you think any restaurants serve that?"

Ace smirks. "We definitely won't find it in a run of the mill restaurant. Lucky for you, I know a place. You remember that alley we were in the other night?"

"The one where we were snogging?"

Noodle makes a face and grabs their wrists to pull them out of the kitchen. "Great, go have fun. And please Ace, stay out of trouble."

Ace grins mischievously at her. 2D doesn't notice Murdoc watching them as Noodle drags them away from the room. And he isn't home when Murdoc holes himself in his room again after Russ has a 'discussion' with him. And he still isn't home that evening when Murdoc drags himself away from his room only to find an empty house.

It turns out Ace knows some very interesting people. They go to a small cafe tucked away between two streets and when Ace asks the cashier for 2D's sandwich, he doesn't make any comments about it. While they're eating, a lovely lady enters the cafe and Ace waves her over. She's got colored hair and tear streaked glittery makeup, like she'd only been crying moments ago. 

When 2D asks if she's alright, she giggles at him and simply replies, "Are any of us really alright?"

She's a bit strange, but very kind and like Ace she seems to find 2D entertaining. They hit it off and she invites 2D and Ace to a club with her and her friends. So, 2D doesn't see Murdoc the rest of the day and when they're returning home late that evening on the bus, he falls asleep leaning against Ace with a happy smile on his face.

* * *

The following morning, 2D wonders around the house but Murdoc is nowhere to be found.

When he asks Russ where he'd gone he tells him, "Out. Don't worry about it, D."

So 2D doesn't worry about it… or well… he might worry about it some, but there are other things to be concerned about, like Katsu tearing a hole in the kitchen curtain.

Eventually, 2D doesn't worry about where Murdoc is or the curtains anymore cause he's playing a video game with Ace and it's great fun. Murdoc and him used to play games together all the time when the band first took off. Most of the time he plays with Noodle now and sometimes, if they were lucky, Russ would join in. Noodle was incredible at certain games, much better than 2D. Ace on the other hand…

"Aw man! Seriously?!"

2D had been spacing out, so when he comes back to reality and sees the victory screen for his character on the telly, he's surprised as well. Ace is sitting beside him on the couch glaring at the screen as if it's insulted him, but that couldn't be the case because the telly rarely insulted people, only a few times had it insulted 2D.

"The game must be rigged. No one is just this good at Mario Kart with the blue shells and superstars and all that crap."

The singer smirks a little to himself. "I'm good at it! It's predictable really, once you figure out what to pay attention to."

Ace furrows his brow. "Okay. Wanna tell me what I should be paying attention to then?"

"There's no fun in that. You've got to figure it out on your own."

Ace appears somewhat amused by that and 2D grins, feeling very pleased with himself. Ace keeps looking at him, but 2D is used to that by now and ignores him as he thinks about which character he'd like to use next. He's not sure if it mattered, but Ace keeps switching his character so maybe it does?

"You were close to beating me the last round." 2D points out. "But then you ran into that bloopy thing."

Ace's smile turns sly and 2D's heart does a flip, like when Murdoc used to make pancakes for breakfast sometimes and he'd flip them up and down in a pan.

"Well, I couldn't really help it. It's hard to focus with someone so attractive sitting right next to me."

The singer bites his lip to try and keep himself from smiling like an idiot and his cheeks grow just a little warm. 

He looks away and fidgets with the buttons on his controller. "Heh… you're very kind, Ace."

There's suddenly an arm wrapping around his waist, pulling him closer, but 2D doesn't flinch or pull away. He does, however, feel a little antsy, with maybe anticipation or nerves?… He's not sure. Ace kisses his cheek gently and there are butterflies fluttering around in 2D's stomach. Where'd that come from, anyway? Had some bloke eaten butterflies and told all his mates what it felt like? Butterflies were harmless, pretty creatures, hardly worth eating. Probably didn't taste good eith-

He giggles and squirms. "Ace!" Ace is kissing his neck and it tickles!

Ace whispers against his skin, "C'mon, I deserve a little something after losing to you so many times, don't I?" 

The singer smiles and says brightly, "How do you reckon that? I think I should get a reward for winning, actually."

Ace places a hand under 2D's chin and tilts his head toward him, leaning impossibly closer. "Of course, babe. Whatever you want from me, it's yours. Just say the word."

2D tilts his head, not entirely understanding what he means, he responds, "Really? Can I have your sunglasses, then? They look good on you but I'd like to see your eyes."

Ace makes a funny face and replies, "Uh… sure?" 

That's not a no so the singer happily swipes the sunglasses off his face and puts them over his own eyes. He feels cooler just wearing them! The room is darker though, but there was always a price to pay for beauty… or at least that's what Murdoc had told him once… he didn't really get what he meant. 

"That's much better." He says once he's done looking at the now darker room. "Your eyes are nice, like stars."

If 2D wasn't wearing sunglasses that made everything darker, he might have noticed Ace's cheeks turn slightly pink.

"You sure? Most people tell me my eyes are freaky."

"Oh yeah, your eyes really are pretty. Why would anyone think they're freaky?"

"Well, they're pink."

2D squints at him. With the sunglasses on it's hard to tell but he supposes they are a tad pink. He doesn't think that's a bad thing though. After all, the singer didn't even have pupils anymore, who was he to judge.

"They're also sparkly, like your teeth. You're a very sparkly person."

Ace's mouth pulls up into one of his rare awed smiles with no trace of his usual cockiness. 2D was good at making him smile like that, and he was super proud of himself for it.

"That is the strangest compliment someone's ever given me. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flattered."

2D beams. "Sweet. I took your sunglasses and then complimented you so I'm owed a reward again, aren't I? Can we kiss now, please?"

Ace grins playfully. "I don't know. The game's looking especially tempting."

He pouts. "Oh, don't be a tosser."

Ace laughs even as 2D leans forward and presses his lips against his to feel the vibration of it. They're kissing and kissing and kissing and Ace is so close. Close enough that he eventually pushes 2D over so he's lying on the couch and Ace is on top of him. His fingers are fidgety and he brings a hand up to play with the hair at the back of Ace's neck, clutching at the strands like a teather keeping him from falling out of reality. Ace pulls away briefly with hungry eyes and then comes back and bites down on 2D's bottom lip. 2D makes a funny sound caught between pleasure and surprise, and squirms. How had he not noticed how pointy his teeth were until now? Ace licks at his bottom lip in response, as if trying to soothe him. 2D indulges him, opening his mouth for him to do as he pleases. There are fingertips softly caressing his neck and he thinks he might combust on the spot when Ace begins exploring his mouth with his tongue. His stomach is doing all kinds of flips and he feels warm and weightless, like he's high but he hadn't taken anything. 

Suddenly, he feels something against the roof of his mouth and it tickles enough to make him giggle. A vague memory comes back to him, of snogging with someone at a party once, and whoever it was had gotten annoyed with him for laughing in the middle of it. He's afraid of the same thing repeating itself when Ace goes still for a second. And then the other man is smirking against his mouth and rubbing his thumb over his skin reassuringly. His heart almost explodes with joy. Enthusiastically, 2D shoves his own tongue in Ace's mouth to lick his smile. Ace moans. 2D is really very happy to please him so he continues his important task of licking his teeth for a little bit longer until-

"C'mon, if you guys are gonna do this at least do it in another room."

2D jolts at the voice and stops. Ace pulls away slowly, lingering a moment longer to gaze down at 2D with love drunk eyes that make the singer temporarily forget how to breathe. Then he looks up to narrow his eyes at Russ standing in the doorway. Noodle peeks out from behind him and gives Ace a wink and a thumbs up.

The singer ignores her gesture and pushes himself up onto his elbows. There's a plastic box in Noodles hand, that looks like it might be a bluray movie.

"Ooo, what's that?"

She grins and says, "This, 2D, is  _ IT _ ."

He scrunches up his face. "What is it?"

" _ IT _ 's a movie."

"Oh. What's it called?"

"...it's called  _ IT _ ."

"I know what it is. But what's the name?"

" _ IT _ !"

"It what?"

Noodle slaps a palm against her forehead and Ace snickers at her, for some reason.

"Anyway," Russ interrupts. "We were going to watch it tonight. Unless you already had plans for the couch."

He looks to Ace for an answer who responds, "I didn't have anything planned in advance, but who knows what might happen."

Noodle screws up her face. "Ew! Too much information, Ace!"

He cackles at her as she goes to turn the game off and put the movie in the bluray device. 2D sits up and Russ takes a seat on the far edge of the couch. He's still not entirely sure what the movie is, but a movie night with everyone sounded good… while almost everyone.

"Hey, Russ? You don't think Murdoc would want to watch with us, do you?" He asks.

Russ shakes his head. "Nah, man. He's still out… you know how he is…"

2D's eyes drift down sadly. He does know. If Murdoc was still gone it meant he was out drinking, which also meant he wouldn't be back until very late, and he'd probably have a massive hangover tomorrow morning. That was never fun for anyone.

Ace sits down beside him after moving the controllers out of the way and swipes his sunglasses back. Except, instead of putting them on he sets them aside. At first, 2D isn't entirely sure what to do with himself until Ace wraps an arm around his waist again and pulls him close so 2D can lean against him. The blue haired man blinks, a tad confused, but a steady smile blooms across his face soon enough and he happily curls up against Ace once he realizes he's allowed to.

Russ watches them and smiles back at 2D when he looks over. 

"Try not to make out during the movie." The drummer comments with little heat, probably just teasing he hands Noodle the remote.

"No promises." Ace replies and 2D can't help but smile stupidly, even as Noodle makes a fuss of getting Katsu to sit beside her on the couch.

The movie is curious, really. Mostly, he likes the group of kids cause they're funny, but the premise of a clown living in the sewer is rather interesting. Why, of all places, the sewer? It was horrible and gross, and it reminded him of that dream he'd had about Murdoc. Speaking of dreams, he's tired, probably cause he hadn't slept much the night before. He tries not to fall asleep, he really does, but near the end of the movie his eyes keep sliding shut, even as the clown is trying to eat people. Gradually, he leans further into Ace and his eyes close, but he doesn't sleep entirely. It's more like he's floating between two dimensions, he hears occasional sounds like screaming or horror movie music or even water.

A feminine voice that sounds like it's coming from miles away asks when there's credit music playing, "Is he asleep?"

Someone is running their fingers through his hair and a cat is purring at his feet. He thinks, if he were a cat he'd also be purring right now.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I'm impressed he fell asleep during a horror movie." A very close voice says.

"It's probably the Relpax he took earlier. Makes my boy drowsy." Another far away voice replies.

The feminine voice teases, "Were you hoping he'd get scared so you could cuddle with him more, Ace?"

He feels whatever he's lying on shift. "Shut up!"

A girly voice laughs, bright and joyful. It reminds him of Noodle when she was little and she'd laugh all the time. 2D smiles to himself and shifts to get more comfortable. The hand in his hair stops momentarily, but continues again once he's still. 

He's almost completely drifted off when there's a loud bang in the distance. He ignores it, until a voice cuts through the silence like a knife.

"Eh? What are you lot doing up so late?"

He scowls, assuming Murdoc's just haunting his dreams like he often does and tries burying his face further into what he's lying on to drown it out.

He manages to block out a bunch of muffled voices until the voice that is Murdoc slurs, "I've got a smashing idea for a song. Is he awake?"

"No, he's not." Noodle responds. Russ chimes in, "Let him sleep, Murdoc, it can wait."

There's a tension in the air that lingers long enough that 2D decides this dream isn't going the way he'd like and he needs to wake up. Groggily, he opens his eyes and turns over onto his cheek, squinting at the world around him.

"So, you just decided to watch the movie without me, then?" That would be Murdoc again.

"You weren't here." Noodle responds, sounding confused. "And we assumed you wouldn't be interested."

"Of course I'm bloody interested! I've been in jail this whole time! I've been dying to watch a stupid movie since I got out of that hellhole."

"Fine, sorry." Noodle replies. "We'll make sure to ask next time."

2D pushes himself up from where'd been lying on Ace, yawning and rubbing at his eye with his right hand.

"What happened? Did the clown find a better place to live than the sewer?"

Ace smiles at him, always in such a good mood. "Nope. They beat him up so he went off to hibernate." 

Hibernate? He thought only bears did that? He makes a face as he thinks about it. And then he notices Murdoc is staring at him and Ace from where he's standing behind the couch. What? He hadn't drooled all over himself, had he?

"Did you need something, Muds?" He asks.

Murdoc keeps staring. It makes 2D start to feel uncomfortable. Finally, their original bassist looks to the floor and says, "No… I'm going to bed."

He leaves the room without another word. Even after he's out of sight Noodle, Russ and Ace are acting strange, as if some world changing event had just transpired that 2D's not aware of. 

* * *

The next week or so is a bit weird, although, not for 2D. He'd had an excellent week, actually. He'd come across a few old keepsakes in his closet that he had shown to Ace, including his Mojo Jojo shirt, which he seemed to find amusing. And Noodle and him had gone out shopping and they'd bought some nice plants for her room and he'd also watched a show with Russ called… oh, what was it again… Something Wormhole. So, he couldn't complain about much of anything. 

It was only Murdoc that had made it strange. For most of it he'd been distant, spending time in his room or out of the house. Even now he's acting off. 2D would know cause he'd spent most of his life with Murdoc, and while he could often be grumbly and agitated there was a difference between when he was actually upset or just casually acting like it. He'd know cause 2D was usually the one provoking him.

So, 2D can tell he's upset, even though they're at Aberdeen Angus Steakhouse and he shouldn't be upset. Noodle had asked 2D to make reservations again a few days ago, cause the others had all gone to eat there together after  _ The Now Now  _ tour to celebrate, and according to her Murdoc'd been complaining about it. And so, 2D had made reservations again and Murdoc was with them this time. Russ is sitting next to Murdoc on the other side of the booth table, while Noodle is sitting next to Ace who is sitting next to 2D. Murdoc is stabbing at his food, only taking small occasional bites and he'd hardly touched the drink he'd ordered.

"Nothing can possibly beat Ise Sueyoshi." Noodle says to Ace.

"Well, you've never been to Jordan's Lobster Dock so how would you know." Ace responds.

Russ interjects, "Sisters got a point, Ace. Ise Sueyoshi had excellent boiled lobster. The best I've tried."

"Aw, c'mon! You have to admit Jordan's Lobster Dock is better than most places. And they've got a lot more to choose from than Ise Sueyoshi."

"Do they have curly fries there?" 2D asks, pouring a disgusting amount of dipping sauce on his chicken. 

"They have french fries."

"Then it is better than Ise Sueyoshi." He states, matter of fact.

Ace looks pleased and turns to give Noodle a smug smile and elbow her. "See, there you have it."

Noodle rolls her eyes. "You two are ridiculous."

He hears a clink and looks across the table to see Murdoc cutting up a piece of his steak with a scowl.

"You alright, Murdoc?" 2D asks with his mouth full.

Murdoc looks away from watching Ace and Noodle. He regards 2D briefly and then says quietly, "Fine." He then drops his utensils and mutters, "I'm going to the bathroom."

He leaves without another word. 2D watches him go, curiously. Noodle brings his attention back to the table when she asks, "Um… so what was that show you two were watching earlier about?"

2D exclaims, "Wormholes! Nasty buggers!"

He turns to Russel. "Do you reckon wormholes are always popping up, Russ? That would explain what happened to my pet snail."

Russ finishes taking a sip from his drink, then responds cooly, "There's always something mysterious creeping in the corner. You just have to open your eyes and you'll see it. You feel me?"

"I feel you. I just hope wherever my snail is he's doing okay. It be horrible if he got sent back in time through a wormhole and ended up a dinosaur's lunch."

Ace interjects, "That reminds me. You ever seen  _ Donnie Darko,  _ Russ?"

Russ raises an eyebrow. "No, but I've heard of it. Why do you ask?"

"It just seems like something you'd be interested in. Blew my mind the first time I saw it."

"That sounds painful," 2D comments. "What's it about?"

"Well, there's this guy who gets told by a bunny monster while he's sleepwalking that the world's gonna end in a certain number of days. All this crazy shit happens to him and it gets into stuff like time travel and alternate universes."

It takes him a moment to process all that. In the meantime Russ speaks up. "I've often thought about other universes and for a long time it bothered me. One day, I realized it's impossible to truly fathom the complexity of the universe. That's why we need to focus on what's happening in the moment. If we don't we'll lose ourselves."

Understanding dawning on him, 2D quickly adds, "Like this food! It's tasty, although a tad too seasoned. But you have to focus on it or you'll miss out on how good it is."

Russ smiles at him. "Yeah, that's one way of thinking about it."

Ace does that thing where he waves utensils at people, gesturing with his fork at Russ. Probably a habit from carrying switchblades around. 

"I'm glad you've got it all figured out." He says with his usual smile except 2D thinks it doesn't quite look right, like he's forcing it.

"Do you not have it figured out?" He asks. 

Ace merely shrugs and goes back to eating. 2D tilts his head.

Noodle speaks up from the end of the booth where she'd been observing quietly. "I think alternate worlds can be worth thinking about, if only to consider the consequences of our actions."

2D hums and nods in agreement while Russ says in appreciation, "That's true. Very true."

The waiter comes up to the table to check on them. 2D asks for another tea. 

The man looks at his drink and gives him a funny look. "That's a Blue Lagoon Cocktail, sir."

"Oh, well… another of those then." He says.

The waiter wanders off to get them more drinks. Ace makes a show of yawning dramatically and bringing his arm up around 2D's shoulder. The singer enthusiastically leans into it with a dopey grin and bonks his head against Ace's face almost knocking his sunglasses off.

Russ looks like he's trying not to laugh at them.

"Smooth, Ace." Noodle teases and the bassist fixes his sunglasses then makes finger guns at her.

Murdoc is back now, frowning as he slides into his seat. Noodle and Russ share a brief look. 2D doesn't notice any of it cause there's a nice song playing over the restaurant's speakers, that distracts him. They eat in silence long enough that 2D starts humming along to it. 

"So Ace," Murdoc begins. "How were things going for you in America, exactly? I was so caught up finding a replacement I didn't think to ask."

"Well, you know. Mostly I was just taking jobs here and there until you called me about this gig. I seriously owe you."

Murdoc waves a hand. "Don't mention it. You kept my band from falling apart, that's all the debt I'm owed."

Russ makes a sour face when he says my band, but doesn't interrupt.

"So… any recent opportunities catch your fancy?" Murdoc continues.

Ace stiffens and 2D stops humming. "No… nothing, really… Why? You find something for me?"

"No." Murdoc responds automatically. "Just… wondering…"

Murdoc and Noodle are the only ones still eating and 2D is thinking about maybe convincing Ace to visit a pawn shop nearby with him while they finish up. He's getting bored, and now the restaurant is playing an annoying radio station with blokes talking.

"You kids have been checking funds while I've been away?" Murdoc asks suddenly and 2D knows there's some deeper meaning to the change in topic then what he's letting on. He just hopes whatever it is doesn't involve him.

Russ frowns. "Yeah. What about it?"

"You must've noticed we're running low. We'll need to do some budget cuts soon. Get rid of a few loose ends."

He risks a glance in Ace's direction.

Noodle responds, perfectly calm, "I checked a few days ago, we're doing fine."

"I'd check again, luv. You never know when 2D's gonna spend it all."

2D narrows his eyes at him. "What are you on about? I haven't bought anything this week except this food."

"Best rethink that with that terrible memory of yours."

Now 2D frowns. He doesn't remember spending any money. Then again, he was getting an awful lot of emails about paying child support for his illegitimate children, but he doesn't remember sending that much over yet… unless he had and he'd forgot?

Noodle glances at Murdoc warily then takes her phone out of her jacket pocket to check their bank account. 2D sinks a little more in his seat, already feeling guilty even though he's not sure if he'd done anything.

Noodle glares at her phone and explains, "It says there's been a transfer." She looks up at Murdoc with a tired expression, "To your account, Murdoc."

The green man goes slightly pale. "Y-you can see that from your account?... My mistake I uh… forgot I transferred some of it to keep it safe. You know… from 2D."

Noodle's face scrunches up. "You transferred most of it, not some of it. Move a third of it back, Murdoc."

"Now Noodle, it be best if we-"

"Me and 2D made a separate account for him while you were gone. Transfer it back."

Oh, that was right, wasn't it? They had done that. Feeling much better he grabs some leftover bread from Ace's plate and helps himself to it. Ace had stolen some of his food earlier anyway, it was only fair.

Murdoc grumbles to himself and pulls out his own phone to presumably do as she'd asked. The waiter returns with new drinks and quickly turns to leave when 2D takes a look at it and says, "This isn't tea."

"You asked for the Blue Lagoon Cocktail." The waiter explains.

2D grabs for it. "That's right. You're right. I did ask for that."

Ace sneers at the waiter and Russ sighs.

* * *

Brockwell Park was a nice place to walk cause there was always something of interest around. He'd already seen at least three kinds of dogs, a guy dressed as an elk and a black cat hiding in a bush. The cat was especially nice cause it hadn't run off when he'd leaned down to get a closer look at it. Rather, it'd looked back at him with playful, intrigued eyes and a slowly swaying tail.

"It's like you!" Is what he'd told Ace, who'd woken up early enough this morning to ask if he could come with him, and looked especially dashing in his black jacket. Ace had regarded the cat with a puzzled expression, as if he was trying to understand what 2D saw in it.

There was a pond there too with a family of ducks swimming around. 2D rushes over to the water's edge to look at them. Strangely enough while he's watching them swim around he suddenly remembers an event from his childhood, in which he'd angered a goose and it'd started chasing him around. He can distinctly remember his mum attempting to shoo the silly creature away when he'd hid behind her. A gentle smile adorns his face at the memory. 

He blocks the rest of the world out as he watches the water ripple from a sudden gust. It's a nice day, a bit chilly and cloudy, but the air is clean and he'd had some peppermint tea earlier that morning. The world really could be a wonder sometimes. It threw so much at him, but also gave him quiet moments like this that made him really think about how lovely it was. Ace is staring at him again. He doesn't need to turn around to know for sure, he knows what his eyes feel like on him now.

A woman sitting on a bench behind him is talking to Ace about something. Actually, they might've been talking for a while but he hadn't noticed until now.

"My ex-boyfriend used to love coming out here to watch the ducks with me." She says. "I've kept up the tradition since he went back to America where he's attending the University of California to be an astronaut."

"Must be a smart guy." Ace replies but doesn't sound like he's that interested.

"Oh he was…" She replies. "He really wanted to go to space it was all he ever talked about… but he's gone now so I wanted to ask-"

"What about the ducks?" 2D interrupts and looks back at her. "There aren't any ducks in space. Won't he miss them?"

She opens her mouth a little, reminding 2D of a gaping fish.

Ace humors him. "Sure, there are ducks in space. We're in space right now."

2D makes a face, thinks about that, then says, "That's right! Your boyfriend made it to space! Congratulations!"

The woman looks flabbergasted at the sudden shift in conversation. 2D leans forward to try and get a closer look at what he thinks is a fish and nearly falls in the water. Luckily, Ace grabs the back of his coat and manages to keep him from falling over.

"Right. Um… I'm gonna go…" The woman says, getting to her feet.

She leaves, and with the bench now vacant, 2D happily takes her seat. 

"She was nice." He states with a grin.

"You're smiley today." Ace comments sitting down himself.

"Of course." 2D says. "It's a beautiful day."

"I don't think most people would agree with you. It's foggy and overcast."

"But it's a beautiful day somewhere and you agree with me, don't you? Why's what anybody else think matter?"

Ace stretches and leans back on the bench. "You're not wrong. I'm hoping it'll rain, honestly."

2D leans forward to get a better look at him. "Really? How come?"

"Well, I hate water but rain's not terrible. It's scenic." He adds slyly, "Plus, we can share an umbrella."

The singer beams. "Aw, if you wanted to be close you could've just asked for a hug." Without further ado he leans over and wraps his arms around him.

Ace laughs and pats him on the back. 2D's very thankful for the warmth, and the sound of water, and the ducks, and everything in this moment, really. It's almost impossible for him to fathom how much things had changed since they'd first started working on  _ The Now Now. _

"Your jacket smells really good." He comments.

"That's cause I got ice cream on it the other day. You hungry?"

2D pulls away. "Yes! But I didn't bring anything to eat… or any money."

"Hey, no worries I've got some cash on me. You like kettle corn, right?"

"You have kettle corn?!"

"Not yet but I saw a vendor. Wait here, I'll be right back." Before he runs off he gives 2D a quick kiss on the lips and a wink.

He watches him go with a pleased smile on his face. Today really was perfect, almost like a dream.

"What are you doing out here?"

2D leans forward blinking owlishly at the figure on the path that looks like Murdoc. Briefly, he worries this is actually a dream if Murdoc's here, but no matter how long he stares he doesn't wake up.

Murdoc scowls and snaps his fingers impatiently. "Hello! Earth to 2D! I know you've got a brain in there somewhere."

He bites his lip. "I'm really here, aren't I? I'm not dreaming?

Murdoc raises an eyebrow. There's a cigar between his teeth. "Did you take too many drugs this morning or something?"

"I don't think so… Why are you here?"

"I asked you first."

"Oh… I'm watching ducks."

Murdoc frowns at him. "Yes, I can see that. But why are you out here watching ducks?"

"I like going for walks and Ace came with me today. He went to get kettle corn."

Murdoc looks… frustrated. "Since when did you start going for walks?"

2D blinks a few times. "I've been going for walks on my own for a while. I can see much better now."

"That's just wonderful. Good for you." Murdoc grumbles and walks up to stand next to the bench.

He turns away to watch the water again. He expects Murdoc to leave but for some reason he doesn't. 2D wishes Ace would come back so he could ask him if this is a dream. He was used to seeing Murdoc around the house and sometimes he'd tag along with the band when they'd go places, but he hadn't run into him alone outside their home like this yet.

"I listened to it, you know." Murdoc states. There's something implied there he's supposed to get. He can tell cause Murdoc looks like he's about ready to bolt which means whatever he's getting at isn't easy for him. 

But 2D's always been too slow to keep up with Murdoc so he asks, "Listened to what?"

"What do you think?  _ The Now Now. _ " 

That peeks his curiosity. "Really? Did you like it?"

Murdoc chews on his cigar and takes far longer to respond than 2D thinks he should.

"It's good." He finally says. "Not as good as something I'd come up with, of course, but much better than all that prattle on the radio." 

That's not what 2D expects to hear at all. He thought he'd tell him it was rubbish or something.

Murdoc adds tentatively, "...Smashing job."

2D thinks this bench must be cursed because now he's gaping like a fish. He doesn't know what to say, but his heart swells and his eyes are maybe a bit teary.

"You… you mean that?"

Murdoc shifts awkwardly. "I said it, didn't I? Of course I mean it, you muppet."

Today really was a fantastic day! He smiles so big it hurts, with large watery eyes. "T- thank you, Muds."

He doesn't want to cry in front of Murdoc so he quickly looks down and wipes at his eyes. He adds a moment later without thinking. "I- I really did miss you."

Murdoc's lips lift slightly at the ends. "I know. Who wouldn't miss me?"

The singer snorts at that and wipes at his eyes again. Murdoc is about to say something else when Ace appears with a smug smile and a bag of kettle corn.

"Hey, Muds. Wasn't expecting to run into you here." 

He throws some popcorn in his mouth and holds the bag out for 2D who gladly takes it. 

"I wasn't either." Murdoc puts simply. "And yet here we all are."

2D shoves a good amount of popcorn in his mouth then asks, "Why are you out here, Murdoc?"

"Getting some air and the creative juices flowing… heh… yes... It's about time Gorillaz move on to their next grand venture."

The singer comments, "But it's only been a few weeks since you got back."

"Yes, well, as Russ always says the world is ever changing. We need to stay ahead of the game, keep up with the times, evolve per say. A new chapter of Gorillaz is beginning which means it's out with the old and in with the new. We should start by thinking about a few budget cuts. Wouldn't want to be spending money on any unnecessary resources."

Ace crosses his arms and frowns but doesn't say anything. 2D says around the popcorn he's chewing, "What do you mean? Noodle said we were doing fine a um… week or so ago… I think?"

Murdoc doesn't falter. "It's important to think of the future, 2D. We're well off now but it's beneficial to save."

He must be up to something, 2D thinks. And usually when Murdoc was up to something it ended up causing trouble for 2D. He swallows and narrows his eyes, suspiciously.

"If you want me to leave so bad Murdoc, just say it." Ace suddenly remarks. 

2D twists around to look at him in surprise.

Murdoc brings a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Eh? Come now Ace, why would you think that? I offered you a job as one of our tour bus drivers, didn't I?... Doesn't pay that well, mind you, but it's something."

He didn't know Murdoc had offered him a different job. What was wrong with Ace keeping the one he already had? Murdoc had said before Ace'd done a good job, so why change anything?

"Why can't Ace just stay our bassist?" He asks.

Murdoc glares at him and it makes 2D feel very small suddenly. It doesn't help that when 2D meets his eyes Murdoc looks almost hurt. "In case you've somehow bloody forgotten, I'm the bassist of Gorillaz."

The singer curls into himself a little at his tone. "Maybe we can have two bassists."

"We don't  _ need _ two bassists."

"But you could switch off... You can play one song and then-"

Murdoc clenches his fists and steps forward. "It's MY band, you idiot! I'm not switching off with some replacement that managed to worm his way into your heart!"

2D flinches and tries to squeeze himself into the corner of the bench. Ace moves in front of him. "Cool it, Murdoc! If you're so keen on talking about this then wait to bring it up with the rest of the band."

Murdoc scowls. "Oh you'd love that, wouldn't you? You've got them in the palm of your hand. Played your cards exactly right so you could get a permanent job."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. I've kept in touch with you for years, I know exactly what you've done. You manipulate people. And I'll admit, I respect that, but not when you're manipulating my band."

"I'm not manipulating anyone."

"Really? Then what about 2D there hiding behind you like you're some kind of saint." 

The singer looks to Murdoc with wide panicked eyes at the mention of his name. 

Ace takes a step forward now. "Maybe you haven't noticed with your head up your ass but he's hiding behind me because he's afraid of you!  _ You _ caused this. All of this! If they're sick of you it's cause of what  _ you've _ done! Not because of me."

A million emotions are conveyed in Murdoc's eyes all at once. There's hurt and anger and sadness and pain. But in that split second 2D only knows fear. He's seen this before. Murdoc moves closer. He raises a fist. 

"Shut your face!"

Ace takes a step back but it's not enough to get out of the way in time. 2D doesn't realize what he's doing until it's already over, until his head hits the ground and everything hurts. He only vaguely remembers getting to his feet and he thinks he remembers yelling something like 'Don't!' or 'Stop!' And then he'd gotten between them… and something'd hit him.

He registers voices shouting at each other but he can't make them out. It's like he's underwater or something. Then it goes quiet. The silence is a relief, like taking a breath after drowning. That wasn't too bad actually, he could maybe turn that into song lyrics. There's blood dripping on the ground. He hates it.

"2D!"

At first he's afraid to know who's saying his name. But then he recognizes Ace's voice and relaxes a little bit.

"Ace…"

"Jesus, you're bleeding."

He forces himself to look up and the world spins for a moment. Ace is suddenly in front of him and something touches his head gently and it stings. Ace is looking at him but when is he not looking at him. He squints, trying to remember what's going on.

"Why are you always looking at me?" He asks slowly.

Ace looks very sad and 2D notices he's not wearing his jacket anymore. Where'd it go?

"Cause I like looking at you. You're interesting and pretty."

He says it like it's a fact but 2D notices he's not looking in his eyes when he speaks. He's focusing on the cloth he's pressing to 2D's head where he's bleeding. Wait… that's where his jacket's gone.

"Your jacket's gonna get ruined." He points out. Ace doesn't respond and he still looks upset. He doesn't like it. Ace was always in such a good mood, but 2D had to ruin everything.

"I'm sorry. I messed everything up."

Ace scowls at him. "You didn't mess anything up. None of this was your fault."

He doesn't know what to say to that. But he's starting to feel funny, so he can't blame himself for not knowing what to say. 

"I'm really tired…" He manages to explain, wobbling a little.

Ace's expression shifts to panic. "Wait! 2D, don't-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger. I've got most of the next chapter done so hopefully I'll get it up by this weekend or early next week. To help me write this I have a working spotify playlist for Ace that might help elaborate on his perspective since this is entirely written from 2D's pov. It's meant to be in order for the events of this fic. Here is the link if you are interested: ([x](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0NIFiayCxOaa5ncMMnqH37?si=L2cMggxLRyGiBRwAfHL8Pw))
> 
> I have another playlist for 2D too actually (besides The Now Now) so I'll probably share that one later.


	8. One Percent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I bring you another chapter on the day of the newest Gorillaz song, coincidentally. I watched their video and loved it! It was so fun with so many little details and references! 2D playing PAC-MAN was especially cute and made me wanna play Smash Bros because I’m a PAC-MAN main lol. Anyway, thank you all for your kudos and comments and continued support! Without further ado I hope you enjoy this chapter!

If somebody asked 2D how many times he'd woken up somewhere he didn't recognize… well, that be a big number. Mostly, when he was younger he'd either get excessively drunk or high, and the next time he woke up he'd be somewhere else. It was alright though cause he'd often wake up lying next to someone. Although, right now it might not be alright cause it’s very quiet and he feels a little bit cold, especially his head.

Whatever he's lying on isn't as soft as the couch or bed at home, either. And it smells like generic detergent rather than the kind Noodle ordered from Japan. He should really try and wake up. Yep, he should do that… any second now… It takes some effort, but gradually he opens his eyes and blinks until the wall he’s facing comes into focus. That wasn’t any good, walls were hardly helpful in figuring out where you were. He forces himself to sit up and immediately regrets it when his head throbs painfully.

"Owww…" He clutches his hair and squeezes one of his eyes shut. Something cold falls onto the bed he’s sitting on. He stares at it and stares at it and stares at it. It finally dawns on him it's a bag of ice. Oh. He must've tripped and hit his head… although… usually when he tripped it didn't knock him out… 

Wait…

Maybe…?

That's right… 

Someone'd hit him…

Murdoc'd hit him!

But he'd meant to hit Ace and 2D'd gotten in the way. He’d tried to hit Ace who hadn't done anything. All he'd done is exactly as Murdoc had wanted and he was mad at him cause… cause he thought he was tricking them or something.

It all comes back to him very clearly now. Why would Murdoc do that? He'd done lots of lousy things to 2D like shagged Paula and kidnapped him and even strangled him, but… he'd never… never tried to hurt someone else like that. It's hard for him to think about… It scares him…

"Yeah." He hears a voice say. His attention quickly shifts elsewhere, looking around with frantic eyes. It looks like… he's in a hotel room. There's a television, a nightstand and a bed, which he's sitting on.

"I don't think he'd want to, and Noodle and Russ probably wouldn't be too happy about it, either."

That's Ace, his brain tells him. He must be talking to someone, but who? And where was he? It sounded like his voice was coming through a wall. He scans the area again and notices a door to another room that's slightly open, and when he really focuses he thinks he can hear water running, like someone's using a sink. The other room must be the bathroom then and Ace must be using the sink. Happy with his detective skills, 2D looks to the nightstand and notices a cup of water. 

"I know it's not the best situation, Snake. But I… I can't just leave."

He moves to grab it, but goes still when he realizes what Ace just said. Leave?! Why was he talking about leaving? Why would he- 

"That _was_ what I was gonna do. It's just-" 

The phone voice interrupts with something. Sounding flustered, Ace barks into it, "N-no! Shut up!" 

Whoever he's talking to laughs loud enough that 2D can hear it. He fidgets with his fingers. Ace hadn't said anything about leaving, not since the day he'd mentioned it at Studio 13. Had he been planning to? Why hadn't he told him?

He thought… he thought Ace would stay now. He'd thought things might be different. Maybe… was it what Murdoc had said? Was that why he wanted to leave?

…….

Murdoc was just being a bastard! Ace didn't need to leave. He had to make sure he knew that. 

2D tries to move off the bed, but when he goes to stand up the room shifts under his feet and he crashes forward onto the floor. He's confused. Why was the floor being awful to him? He'd never done anything to it except step on it and everybody did that.

"2D!"

Someone helps him into a sitting position. He looks up to see Ace watching him with concern.

"The floor's a tosser!" 2D exclaims and attempts to stand up again, but Ace pushes him back down. He's about to yell at him for it, when Ace kneels in front of him and gets very close to his face. 2D's heart does a cartwheel. This is an odd time to kiss but he has no objections, really. In fact, he gets a little bit excited about it. However, he's severely disappointed when all Ace does is brush some hair out of his face and squint at him behind his shades. 

"Do you remember what happened?" Ace asks.

"Murdoc tried to punch you! He's being a sodding bastard! Don't listen to him, Ace."

Ace frowns and removes his hand, standing back up and giving him some space. 

2D tries to reach out for him but his vision is all screwy and his arm misses. "You don't have to go." He says. "I know Murdoc said we don't need two bassists but we can figure something else out. You could be my assistant or-"

"That doesn't matter right now." Ace interrupts, sounding frustrated.

"Why not? You said something about leaving a few minutes ago."

His expression adjusts to shock, then he just looks disgruntled. "How much did you hear?"

2D ignores the question. "It's cause of what Murdoc said, isn't it? Or maybe… is it cause of me? Did I do something?"

"No. You didn't do anything."

"So it's what Murdoc said."

"No, 2D. Look, you-"

"Then why were you talking about leaving? If there's something-"

"That's not important right now, okay!"

2D flinches on instinct when he raises his voice and feels stupid about it. Ace wouldn't hurt him. He wouldn't… he doesn't think he would.

Ace rubs at his temples. "Sorry. Just… your head. How is it?"

He replies easily, "It's fine. I'm fine."

Ace looks at him funny. "You've said that before when you weren't fine. Don't lie if you're not."

2D frowns. "I'm not lying! I get hit on the head all the time. It's not a big deal."

"Is that really what you think?"

The singer blinks, then scrunches up his face. "What?"

"That it's not a big deal when people hurt you."

"I don't know. Why are we talking about this?"

"Cause you got in the way when Murdoc tried to hit me." Ace puts simply, then adds, "That was stupid."

What? What the hell?! "It wasn't stupid! I didn't want you to get hurt!"

Ace narrows his eyes. "But it's perfectly okay if you get hurt, right?"

“I get hurt all the time." He snaps at him. "I told you, it’s not a big deal!”

“It is to me, 2D!”

2D looks at him, for a very long time. Long enough, that he thinks a major catastrophe could happen. A meteor could strike the Earth or zombies could crawl up out of their graves. And he’ll just be sitting here, staring at him. He looks away, biting his lip and clenching his fists at his side. He doesn’t know how to feel about that. He didn't like to think about it. 2D got hurt a lot and that was just the way things were. It was normal and he was used to it. It shouldn’t matter to Ace…

"I just wanna make sure you don't pull something like that again.” Ace tells him. “If someone tries to hit me, don’t get in the way. I can take it. Got it?"

2D makes a face and mutters under his breath, "I don't want you to take it. Murdoc is my problem."

Ace is shocked and then he just looks sad. 2D doesn’t like it. He doesn’t need any pity. So, he tries to move the conversation along. 

"What's it matter anyway, if you're going to leave."

"I never said I was gonna leave."

"But you were thinking about it."

Ace looks away. "I was… but… nevermind."

He doesn’t elaborate on that and it gets on 2D’s nerves so he asks, “Nevermind what? Why are you acting so weird?”

“I’m not acting weird.”

“Yes, you are. You’re always in a good mood and now you’re not. Are you sure you’re not upset with me?”

Ace meets his gaze again and he’s annoyed. 2D can tell cause lots of people look at him like that. There’s something else in his expression he can’t read though.

“Why do you do this to me?” He asks as if 2D’s supposed to have any idea what he’s talking about.

He glares at him. “I’m not doing anything. I’m just sitting here.”

Ace glares back. “I meant why do I care about you so much?”

“How am I supposed to know that? Maybe it’s cause you like my hair. Lots of people like my hair.”

He scoffs, rolls his eyes and refuses to look at him. Somehow that makes 2D even more irritated. At least when he was yelling at him he had his attention, now it's like he's trying to pretend 2D's not there. He didn't like it cause Ace never ignored him, not really, anyway. He was always looking at him. Even while they were on tour he was like that. And sometimes 2D used to look over and Ace would look away and act like he hadn't been watching him. It confused 2D but… he also sort of really liked it.

He attempts to get to his feet again. It makes Ace pay some attention to him, at least.

"You should lie down. I'm pretty sure you have a concussion."

2D sits on the bed with a pout. 

"Where are we?" He means to ask casually, but it comes out more like he's demanding to know.

"Tulse Hill Hotel." Ace replies, still not bothering to look at him, pulling out his phone instead. "You blacked out and Noodle and Russ won't answer my calls so I took you here."

"Oh. Why didn't you just take me home, then?"

Ace's eyes shift over to him. He glares at him for a good while, and if he wasn't annoyed before he definitely is now.

"What?" 2D demands. "What's your problem?"

"Shut. Up." Ace growls at him and tosses the television remote on the bed. "Watch tv or something."

He starts marching toward the room's entrance and 2D scowls at him. "Where are you going?!"

He opens the door with more force than is necessary and turns back around. "To get you some painkillers, dipshit!" He yells and slams it shut behind him.

The sound of it hurts 2D's head, but it's nothing compared to how much his chest suddenly hurts. Ace had never acted like that before. There were a few times during the tour when he was obviously tired and maybe a little cranky, but he'd never yelled at anyone cause of it. From what he'd notice, most of the time Ace would just find some way to get out of any responsibilities he had and sneak off to his trailer.

He feels… not very good about the whole thing. He was just trying to understand why Ace had been talking about leaving, but… 2D knew he could be a pain in the ass. Murdoc told him so all the time. Maybe it… maybe it had become too much for Ace… Wait… what if… what if that was why he wanted to leave? Was he just tired of him? 

Panicked, he bites his lip and moves to get up again. The room tilts when he stands, and he waits for it to stop before stumbling over to the door.

He opens it and pokes his head out, peering around the hall. He looks left, and he looks right, and he even looks up, but he doesn't see Ace around anywhere.

"Ace!" He yells. A woman and a kid down the hall turn to stare at him. 

"Ace! I'm sorry!" He tries again, frantically looking around and ignoring the pain in his head.

He freezes when he becomes aware of the other two people in the hallway. Something about seeing them makes his thoughts spiral. All of a sudden, he realizes he's not alone, cause there's a woman and a kid here and there were probably a bunch of other people in this hotel… He doesn't get why that's so important to him, but it's what he hyper focuses on.

It could be because he's not stranded someplace, locked in a room, with only a whale for company. And if he really really wanted to, he could leave. He could go back to Studio 13, he could take a train or a bus or a cab. It might be hard with his head hurting, but it was possible. Ace hadn't left him entirely alone, there were lots of people here he could talk to if he needed something. He wasn't alone…

Slowly, he closes the door and stands there, staring at it for a long time. His hands fidget as he turns to the now empty room. He needs the toilet. He'll take care of that first.

The bathroom is fancy. It has transparent plastic cups decorated with frills on the top. He traces the decoration lightly with his thumb. When he chances a glance in the mirror, he's greeted by the sight of two bright white eyes blinking at him rather than large black ones. There's also some purplish skin peeking out beneath stray strands of his hair and he thinks he sees a cut somewhere beyond his hairline. When he touches it, it stings. 

Ace's jacket is thrown over the edge of the bathtub and it's wet, like he'd been trying to wash it. He doesn't remember it getting dirty though, so why would Ace need to clean it?... He's forgetting something… That reminds him, he has a coat on which means he has pockets. He rummages through them, searching for the pills he usually has with him. Except, he doesn't find any. He searches a few more times. Why didn't he have any? He always had some, although… he hadn't thought anything like this would happen. That must be why he hadn't grabbed any when he left.

He finds his phone in one of the pockets, at least. His skull is starting to pound. So, with his business taken care of, he trudges out of the bathroom and falls on to the bed. 

It's raining. He can hear it and when he looks out the window he can see it. He hopes that cat he saw earlier isn't getting all wet. Cats didn't like water… Poor thing.

He rolls over onto his back and checks his messages. He doesn't have any… That was right. Ace had said Noodle and Russ didn't know what had happened yet. What would they do when they did find out? Would they be mad at Murdoc? Now that he thought about it… Was that why Ace hadn't just taken him back home? Murdoc would surely be there and 2D didn't really want Ace anywhere near Murdoc after what had happened…Oh… hold on… he really was a dippershit, or whatever Ace had called him earlier, wasn't he?

There's a lump in his throat and his eyes are a bit watery. He swallows and opens up his text messages to Ace, and then he spends five minutes trying to think of what to say. Eventually, he settles on typing:

'Im sorry Im a pain in the ass please come back soon'

He hits send. And he waits and he waits… and he waits… the pounding in his skull stops and he shuts his eyes…

He lies there, occasionally opening his eyes to remind himself he's somewhere nice and not alone in a whale or someplace else. He sings _One Percent_ to himself. Then he sings _Card Cheat_ by The Clash cause Ace liked that song and 2D liked it too. Maybe, if Ace were here, he'd pretend he was playing bass. Sometimes when 2D sung to himself he'd do that and he always found it especially funny. It was also very cute, in his opinion.

The door opens. 2D tugs his arm away from where it'd been lying over his face and sits up. His brain aches and he groans, holding his head in his hands. 

Someone snorts at him. 2D knows who it is and relaxes subconsciously. When he moves his hands away and turns to Ace, he notices the other man doesn't quite look the same as he had before. He's not wearing his sunglasses now, which is probably the biggest difference, and he also seems a little bit hesitant as he walks toward him. 

"Um… here you go, babe." Ace holds out a bag for him.

He'd called him babe… that was confusing. Was he still upset with him then or not? He hadn't answered his message so he thought he was. 

He takes the bag Ace offers him. There are a few kinds of pain medications in it, and he quickly finds the one he thinks would help the most and eagerly opens the bottle. Ace sheepishly sits down at the edge of the bed. 

"Did you get my message?" 2D asks cause he's genuinely curious and it's bothering him.

"Yeah." Ace replies and doesn't say anything else. The corners of 2D's mouth tug down, but he decides it's probably best if he let it be. Ace had obviously been wound up earlier. If he didn't want him to leave for good he shouldn't make it worse.

"Are you hungry?" Ace randomly asks.

2D does a double take. He hadn't eaten much of anything this morning, had he? He'd wanted to eat kettle corn but that didn't work out. So, he must be hungry.

"I think so." He says.

Ace's expression softens at his response and he pulls something out of his pocket. "Right, well… they had this shindig in one of their rooms downstairs so I swiped some of these for you."

He tosses whatever it is to 2D, who manages to catch it, surprising himself. It's something bundled up with food wrapping paper. He pulls it away gingerly, and instantly recognizes the wondrous smell of scones. Inhibition forgotten, he tears the rest of the paper away in a frenzy. 

"Wow…" He smiles big and wide. "They look delicious!" 

"There was a ton of them." Ace informs him. "I don't really know anything about scones and tea and all that, so I uh, just grabbed the ones I thought you'd like."

"That's very kind of you." 2D tells him, around the scone he's already stuffed in his mouth. He's incredibly endeared by it, actually. He feels warm and fuzzy inside, and it's not just because of how good the scone is. 

Ace smiles, seemingly rather pleased with himself. Then he leans back and stretches his legs out, trying to act casual.

"Think of it as an apology. For earlier…" He looks around awkwardly, then adds, "I mean… sorry for how I was acting or… yeah…" 

He looks away and mumbles something to himself.

The singer tilts his head at the odd behavior. "You aren't mad at me, then?"

"I was mad." He admits. "But… not at you, exactly. I was just frustrated."

"About what?" 2D asks.

Ace shrugs and looks somberly at the floor. "A lot of crap, I guess." 

2D wants to ask specifically what he's talking about, but again holds himself back. If Ace had been frustrated, he could understand why he'd gotten mad at him. Sometimes when 2D was stressed out or frustrated and people wouldn't leave him alone he got snappy with them too. It was okay, 2D would be patient with him, cause that was the right thing to do.

He's gone through about two of the three scones when he realizes something and stops himself from eating the third.

"Want one?" He asks, holding the last one out for him.

Ace shakes his head. 2D pulls it away, feeling somewhat dejected. Did he not like scones? Or maybe he wasn't hungry cause he wasn't feeling good? His fingers fidget with it and rain continues to fall outside whilst he thinks. If only Noodle were here. She was much better with these kinds of things, and she got along really well with Ace. Surely, she'd know what was wrong. 

Ace speaks up with some hesitation. "You know… All that stuff Murdoc said about me. It wasn't entirely untrue."

…What?…Was that why he was unhappy? He'd been right earlier then, what Murdoc said had been bothering him. Stupid Murdoc! Why'd he have to be such a wanker?

“I’ve manipulated people…" Ace continues. "I used to all the time. I can't exactly blame him for thinking I could be using you guys…"

He blinks at him with wide white eyes. And then blinks again. He needs a minute to think about that. Or possibly a year. 

"You're not tricking us though, are you?" 2D settles on asking for clarification.

Ace leans back and frowns up at the ceiling. "I'm not. Or at least- That's not what I intended… I just…" 

He looks conflicted for whatever reason, then finally turns to meet 2D's gaze. "I want you to know, I wouldn't blame you if you don't trust me anymore. That's um… that's what I'm trying to say."

Ace's eyes reflect the rain from the window nicely… it's distracting… 2D's still confused.

"I'm not sure what you mean." He confesses. "You’ve only ever been nice to me. I don't have any reason not to trust you.”

Ace furrows his brow. "What Murdoc said seriously doesn't bother you?"

2D bites his lip, and thinks that over. He could be tricking them… maybe? Although… it didn't change the fact that Ace had been nice and respectful to him. Even when he'd first joined the band, he always said things like please and thank you to him. 2D was sure he'd been used by people before… but at least Ace had been kind, if he was using him, that is. And if he had just been pretending the whole time, well, he hoped he wasn't, cause that would mean he wasn't being himself. And Ace had told him he was when they'd been in Mexico.

He tries his hardest to piece all that together into words. "I don't like thinking that you've been tricking us. But… even if you were you've still been kind to me. So, I couldn't really hate you for it." 

That's what he says. Ace gazes at him with an expression he can't read, even with his sunglasses off. 2D looks down at the last scone and debates whether he'd like to eat it or not. Ace might be hungry later, so he covers it with the paper again and places it on the nightstand.

When he sits forwards again, Ace is suddenly right in front of him. 2D blinks. When had he gotten there? The other man reaches a hand out and brushes some of 2D's hair out of his face, which makes 2D think he'll probably just squint at him again, like earlier. Instead, he leans forward and presses a kiss to 2D's forehead. It's very gentle and soft and warm and 2D sits there and isn't sure what to do with himself. He got snogged at parties all the time, so he was used to that. There was something… different about this. His insides feel funny and the butterflies in his stomach are fluttering around.

"You really are something…" Ace whispers, lingering a moment longer.

Inevitably, he pulls away. "I'm not sure if I should be concerned or amazed."

"I'm just me though." Is all 2D can think to say to everything the world is throwing at him right now.

Ace's eyes soften. "You are you, and there's nothing wrong with that, but… you've just… you've gotta be careful, okay? The world tends to be shitty to people like you. I mean, it's not your fault, if anything it's everyone else's. But still, it's smart to be cautious. Do you understand?"

Ace sure is saying a lot of things that sound very pretty today. The problem is 2D doesn't understand, not really, anyway. He still needs maybe a year or two to sort things out. For now, he decides he'll try to remember what he said, that way he can pick it apart in his head over time. 

"I don't really understand. But I'll think super hard about it and try to. Is that alright?"

Ace looks a tad exasperated but not mad, in fact, his eyes are full of fondness. It makes 2D incredibly happy.

"Yeah, that's alright." 

2D smiles, thankful for the patience. That is until Ace remarks with his usual smirk back in its place, "Just don't think too hard. You might hurt yourself." 

The singer pouts and shoves him lightly, while Ace cackles at him. "Haha. Very funny, Ace. Like I haven't heard that before." 

Everyone always joked about that, but 2D rarely hurt himself when he thought especially hard, and he was proud of that. However, for Ace's sake he might try to be careful, since he'd asked him to be. He didn't completely understand what he meant but he'd gotten that much.

Ace smiles mischievously and shifts closer. He places a finger delicately under 2D's chin and lifts his face up so the singer has no choice but stare into sparkly eyes. Then Ace whispers, "Take all the time you need to figure it out, sweetheart. You're remarkably cute when you're thinking, you know. Almost… irresistible."

2D can't breath and his face heats up. He blinks, and swallows, gears short circuiting in his head. "That's um… y-you… kiss me please."

Ace laughs while 2D grabs his face and eagerly tugs him the rest of the way until their mouths meet. It's a relief and 2D practically melts into it. When he shifts his legs and leans closer, longing for more contact, Ace responds by pressing up against him until 2D's back hits the headboard. And then it's so cozy and perfect, with someone lovely sharing their body heat with him and kissing him like their life depends on it, and there's the soft sound of rain in the background, and butterflies are singing in his chest and… and 2D wonders briefly if any of this is really happening. He feels like he's floating and he's not sure if it's the drugs he'd taken earlier or because of how blissful this all is. He brings a hand up to tug on Ace's hair and Ace's fingers tangle in his blue locks. Ace gently runs his fingers through his hair while 2D grips his like a lifeline. And it all feels amazing until Ace scraps the cut on his head and 2D flinches. 

Ace stops kissing him and whispers softly against his lips, "Sorry. You feeling better now, by the way?"

"I am." 2D replies, but doesn't dare move away. "Although… I'm a little bit tired, actually. That's funny, don't you think? I was out for a while, but I still feel tired."

Ace keeps running his fingers through his hair. He must've been right earlier, he really does like his hair, but that's probably not the only reason he likes him. He liked him a lot obviously, so there must be more reasons. He should try and figure out what they are one day.

Ace pulls away a little to give 2D some room to breath but thankfully lingers close enough that they're still sharing body heat. "That'll happen when you get punched in the face hard enough to pass out. Believe me, I'd know, I used to get punched in the face all the time."

"Really? Why?" He asks curiously.

Ace shrugs. "The same reason Murdoc tried to hit me. I can be an asshole." 

"I don't think you've been an asshole." 2D points out.

"Well, I don't have a reason to be an asshole to you. You guys are cool, it's the rest of the world that gets on my nerves. That's why I used to like causing trouble. I still like to occasionally but… I don't think I'm as bad as when Murdoc first met me."

2D leans back and glances up at the ceiling, as if it'll help him put together the words he longs to say. "You know, I was really good at driving. That's what one of the boys in secondary school told me. He said, 'You're real good at it, Stu.' I don't remember his name or what he looked like, but I remember that's what he told me. And we used to drive around and smoke and sometimes cause problems. Is that what you did?"

Ace looks genuinely surprised and maybe awed. "For the most part… Looks like we have more in common than I thought."

2D frowns. If only he could tell him more. "I don't remember it at all, really. Sometimes I remember random things, but there are lots of bits I can't remember. It's like there's a bug in my brain and he chews on it and leaves holes everywhere. I don't know what kind of bug it is, it could be a tapeworm or maybe a caterpillar. Actually, I think it's a caterpillar cause I have butterflies in my stomach all the time. Mostly when you're around… They must like how good you smell……. what was I talking about?"

"Bugs in your brain." He reminds him with a soft smile.

"That's right. There are bugs in my brain. You'd think they would've gotten knocked out of my head by now or died but they're still in there chewing on it. I've told the doctor when I go for appointments but he doesn't believe me."

* * *

2D wakes up particularly early in the morning, exactly two days later. He knows it's been two days cause he'd been paying special close attention to the time. 

See, Ace had told him yesterday about this thing called limited space… or was it laminated space?

Anyway, Ace said that when he was a kid his parents would sometimes fight really loud late at night. So, Ace would go to the park near his apartment building, to get away from the noise. And he said it'd be really weird cause no one would be around and all the stores nearby had their lights off, and it felt unreal, like he was the only person in the world.

He said the strangest thing about it was he only felt like that in certain places, not when he drove late at night or walked home from parties or regular stuff like that, but only in places like empty train stations or hallways at midnight. 

Apparently, he'd learned people called things like that uh… liminal space. And it was a place that either didn't feel like it fit in with the world or was between two points in time like hospital waiting rooms, where life changing stuff happened. 2D thought it sounded similar to how he felt when he went through revolving doors and wasn't sure where he'd end up when he tried to exit.

Ace'd told him hotels were sometimes like that too for people. So now 2D was paying extra close attention to the time, because he didn't want to get lost in the between space. It was especially important since mostly all he'd been doing is lying around.

Noodle had insisted when she'd come to see him with Russ, that he stay here for a few days and get plenty of rest. He was confused about it, cause he'd gotten hit on the head loads of times before and it wasn't such a big deal. But since she had been insistent, he would try to rest. It was hard for him to deny Noodle anything, and she'd seemed upset about the whole thing. Russ had acted a bit off too, actually, quieter somehow. It was all very strange to him.

That's why 2D tries not to think about it. If he thought about it all too much, it would end up upsetting him, and he didn't want to cry here. He could just cry it all out once he went back home.

That's also why he should stop thinking about it right now and focus on other things, like his head hurting a little bit. Lucky for him, he'd fallen asleep on the left side of his face rather than the bruised side, so his face didn't hurt much. Actually, he feels pretty good, considering everything. He'd slept well last night. He'd dreamt that animals could talk and they were really nice to him and gave him things like cheesecake. He liked cheesecake.

He needs to use the loo, but he doesn't especially want to move. The mattress he's lying on is soft and someone is holding him very close. It's comfy.

He opens his eyes and isn't surprised to find Ace is the person clinging to him. That's how he'd fallen asleep, he could remember it all very clearly, unlike loads of other times he'd slept with someone and couldn't remember any of it. He waits for a minute or two, just lying there before very carefully attempting to get up without waking Ace. It requires some effort, since Ace tries to tug him back a few times but, he manages and is really very pleased with himself. He gives Ace a gentle kiss on the head for all the trouble, before making his way to the toilet.

He does his business and spends maybe… ten minutes making faces at himself in the mirror and messing with his hair until it covers the bruise on his face, when someone knocks on the door to the hotel room. He frowns and looks out into the room. It's too early to be the cleaning crew. Perhaps it was Russ or Noodle then.

He steps out of the bathroom and peaks a glance at Ace who appears to still be asleep. That was alright, he'd take care of it.

He opens the door… and almost slams it shut again when he sees a tired looking Murdoc in the hall. He stares at him like a deer in the headlights.

Murdoc eyes him and frowns. "Eh… Maybe put on some clothes before you answer the door, mate."

The singer looks down to find he's only wearing his underwear. Oh. Oops. He makes a funny sound and shuts the door in Murdoc's face. It takes him some time to gather all his clothes cause they're thrown haphazardly all over the floor, and when he tries pulling on his pants he nearly falls over. It takes him so long, in fact, 2D's surprised Murdoc doesn't get impatient with him and start pounding on the door.

Once he's decent enough, he opens it again. Murdoc gives him a strange look and tries to sneak a look into the room. For whatever reason, it makes 2D nervous and he closes the door an inch or two.

"What are you doing here, Murdoc?" He asks curiously, keeping his voice down.

Murdoc stops trying to see past him and explains, "I came to apologize to… um…" He looks at 2D for a few seconds. 2D looks back at him. It's a little bit awkward.

"T-to Ace." Murdoc finally settles on. "For what I said." 

"He's not awake." 2D graciously informs him. "It's really early, actually. I don't think anyone's usually up at this time. You should try again later." 

He tries to shut the door, but Murdoc holds out a hand to stop him. "Wait, 2D. Why don't I just stay in the room with you until he wakes up?"

That throws him for a loop. He grips the doorknob tighter.

"It won't be a big deal." Murdoc says. "I'll simply sit quietly and watch the telly. And when Ace wakes up, I'll apologize and leave. So, go on. Open the door, now."

Except, 2D doesn't want to open the door. He's trying to think about it, and he has a great deal of things to consider. Murdoc really could be a wonderful person when he was in a good mood. He was smart and sometimes nice and fun to be around. He'd also been with 2D for most of his life. So, he does like Murdoc and he'd missed him very much while he was gone.

But there was also Plastic Beach, and far too many other painful memories that made him wish Murdoc would sod off for good. And only two days ago he'd tried to hit Ace, which was horrible of him. Murdoc could be nice, but when he wasn't… 

While 2D is thinking, Murdoc's patience wears thin and he attempts to step into the room. 2D gets in the way.

"I don't trust you." He states bluntly, astonishing himself.

The words are simple, they're just funny sounds that come out of his mouth. That's all words were, really. But maybe these words aren't so simple, cause Murdoc's face scrunches up and he looks surprised, angry and maybe hurt. It makes 2D shaky and… and afraid. 

"S-sorry." The singer hastily adds and shuts the door. 

He locks it as fast as his now shaking hands will let him, so Murdoc doesn't hit him, or yell in his face, or drag him off to sing sad songs on an island in the middle of the ocean.

He thinks Murdoc might start pounding on the door and say something like, _"Wake up, faceache!"_ And he'll pull out keys to open it and force 2D to get up, even though he hadn't slept at all the night before because of the whale, and then one day the big fish will eat him whole and he'll spend years inside of it all alone until he washes up on a beach, and then he'll end up back with Murdoc cause where else was he supposed to go and… and…. 

No one is pounding on the door. No one's shouting at him… all he hears is his own breathing, and then footsteps that get farther and farther away. He's… okay. Everything's alright. No one's forcing him to do anything.

In a daze he moves away from the door and back to the bed. Ace is still asleep. That- that's very fair. He didn't need to wake up. 2D was okay… although, he'd really like someone to talk with right now. He could call Noodle or maybe Russ, but it was early. They'd most likely still be asleep… Why had Murdoc been up so early, anyway? He'd looked tired, like he hadn't slept at all last night or something.

"2D?"

His thoughts crash to a stop and he notices Ace is watching him with sleepy eyes. 2D's hands are fidgeting with the blanket that Ace is currently lying under. He hadn't noticed he was fidgeting with it. He puts his hands back at his sides.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Nah…" Ace mumbles, voice heavy with sleep. "I woke up cause I'm cold." He smirks and lifts the blanket up. "Why don't you c'mere and warm me up, hot stuff?"

2D blinks at him and when his brain manages to catch up with the world, he gets the urge to laugh. Ace was ridiculous, really. In 2D's opinion, it was lovely and charming.

He does exactly as he asks and wiggles his way under the covers. Ace wraps an arm around him and presses their lips together. He's not sure how Ace had managed to get cold under all the blankets, but he's really very happy to help him warm up.

He's distracted for most of the morning and he's also distracted for some of the afternoon cause Ace sneaks them into a wedding party and 2D runs around excitedly looking at all the food and decorations. But he does remember his encounter with Murdoc later when he's resting in their room and decides to send him a message asking when he'll come by again. Murdoc never replies and he doesn't show up for the rest of the day. 2D tries not to worry about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always have a fun time writing Ace and 2D’s dialogue. I’ve tried to pay some homage to Ace’s PPG character while also creating my own interpretation of him and I have to say shipping aside I would’ve loved if Gorillaz had some kind of exchange between 2D and Ace. They bounce off of each other in such interesting ways. I know they didn’t have the budget to get Ace’s voice actor but even just a written conversation would’ve been cool. Oh well…


End file.
